It's What We Do
by UpAllNightWriting
Summary: A terrorist cell tests NCIS' limits when a warehouse shootout forces NCIS in DC and LA into a joint operation... New faces, old brokenhearts, fake emotions, and real backstories. Jam-packed w/ happiness and sadness.
1. Out With a Blaze of Glory

**_Crossover time! I embarrassed my self multiple times in the mall from laughing so hard at times while revising it today. LA doesn't show up until chapter two, but it comes quickly...I have five and a half chapters typed up of this baby already. As always, I am going to try and update at least once a week, except for this time. So, two chapters to start, please read both! It is important, dear reader. Anyways... enjoy! ~UpAllNightWriting_**

**Disclaimer: I tragically do not own NCIS or NCIS:LA... Meh. **

**Out in a Blaze of Glory**

Gibbs got a call. "Metro pinpointed our terrorists. Their gonna let us go in first since these guys are ours. Let's go!" "Metro is cooperating for once?" Tony asked. Well that was unlike them. "Don't question, just go with it." Gibbs said, pushing the button to the elevator. "Rule twenty nine, got it, boss." Tony spoke again, giving himself a mental headslap. Gibbs drove, of course, so they were in the warehouse district with in fifteen minuets. The agents walked into the warehouse silently. Tim wondered what criminals would choose a warehouse with security cameras all over the place. "Alright. Let's do this." Gibbs said into his ear piece. "Everybody in position?" He asked. "Yep." Tony replied. "Got his six, Boss." said Tim. "Ready when you everyone else is." Ziva replied. They crouched down, sneaking from one box to the next. Gibbs let Ziva do the honors when they spotted the terrorists. Six of them, all with two guns each. Gibbs thought they would be easy to take, even thought the team was outnumbered. "Federal agents, drop your weapons!" Ziva's confident voice echoed throughout the warehouse. The six men turned and pulled their weapons. The four agents crouched down from out behind the boxes and opened fire. The six did the same. Ziva doubled tapped two in the chest, four on four now. Tony got one in the shoulder, he wouldn't be getting back up until this was over. Three on four.

Tim went out to shoot but slid on the concrete. He started shooting at the terrorists, but his plan back fired. They took cover behind boxes as well. As he tried to run back behind a box for protection, he was shot three times in the chest. He screamed, a blood curling scream. Gibbs and Ziva retreated behind the boxes again. Tony hadn't seen it yet, he was reloading. He probably thought it was one of the bad guys. But when he looked up, he yelled, "TIM!" Gibbs knew what he was about to do. "TONY NO! DON'T DO IT!" he yelled, but it was too late. Impulse had taken over Tony, he wasn't thinking. He ran out and got to his fallen partner. "Tim! Oh, Tim I'm so sorry." he was crying. Tony put his head on his chest and listened for a heartbeat and found none. "Tim. Oh God. Tim." was all Tony could say. He looked over at Ziva and Gibbs. Gibbs looked into his eyes. They were filled with fear and uncertainty. He had Tim's blood smeared all over his face, and he was about to cry. The remaining three were done reloading at this point, so when they saw Tony look away, they took their chance. One man shot at him once and missed. The second shot his leg, and Tony rolled over and yelped in pain. The third and fourth bullets hit Tony right where his heart was. The vest would prevent him from dying, Ziva hoped. Gibbs exchanged a look with the woman. Ziva was on the verge of crying.

In rage, they both stepped out and put three shots each into the rest of the terrorists. After Gibbs declared all of them dead, except for the one Tony shot, Ziva ran over to her fallen friends. She checked Tim's neck, even though she knew there would be nothing. Tony's breath was so shallow that Ziva didn't even hear it until she was squatted next to her dying partner. "Ziva. Tell-tell my d-dad I-I love hi-him." Tony said, barely holding on to life. He coughed up blood all over his and Ziva's shirt and she felt his neck muscles relax. Ziva tried to revive him, to stop the bleeding, but it was flowing too fast. She stepped around where she could find his pulse. She spewed out a line of Israeli cuss words. She opened their vests and let her tears flow freely. On Tim, one bullet was stopped by his vest, the other two had founds chinks in his armor, so to speak. Ziva moved over to Tony. The bullet in the leg was one, one bullet stopped by his vest, the other, the fatal one, lodged right where his heart was beating not a minuet ago. Gibbs picked up his phone and called two people. The first was Director Vance. "Director." he said in a grim tone. "Gibbs. What can I do for you?" the man asked.

"Special Agent Timothy McGee and Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo are dead, sir." "Oh my God. How?" the Director said, stunned. "Warehouse shootout. Security cameras caught it all." Gibbs said, looking down at Ziva. "Thank you, Special Agent Gibbs." Gibbs hung up the phone and called the second person, an old friend. "Yeah, it's Callen." The man on the other side of the line sounded a little bit tired. "G. Nice to talk to you again. Sorry for waking you up." Gibbs said, getting the faint trace of a smile on his face. "Gibbs! You know I don't sleep." Callen said, a bit surprised that his buddy wouldn't remember that. "I'm just messing with you, Callen. When you get in, you can brief your team on this." Gibbs said. He turned to face Ziva, who was no longer crying, but stroking Tony's bloody hair. She bent down and whispered in his ear, "I always liked you Tony." Gibbs nodded twice, and Ziva smiled and laugh escaped her lips. Gibbs smiled and turned his attention back to the phone and G. "Alright, good. I played a game of 20 Q with my team yesterday they were so desperate to know what was going on. I'm glad this thing worked." The younger man replied. "Ah, it hasn't worked yet. You know that. It's just been put into play." Gibbs said, sitting down on a wooden crate. "We rolled snake eyes. Moved our pawn two spaces from start." Callen said very seriously. "Yep. Call Hetty. Tell her Operation B.O.G is in play." They both hung up, and Gibbs slipped his phone back into his pocket and stood up. He looked at Ziva, who already had her gun out. "Go for it." he said. Ziva's smile grew wider and she raised her weapon to the security camera and shot it.

_**A/N: OMG. DID THAT JUST HAPPEN? Did I seriously just kill my two favorite people? I have had many a fantasy about it, so I would do it... Read on to find out!**_


	2. Operation BOG

**And so continues the adventures of our favorite federal agents! After we find out what the heck is going on, we get to see what's hapeneing down at OSP.**

**Disclaimer: I tragically do not own NCIS or NCIS:LA... Meh**

**Operation B.O.G.**

_Twenty-Four Hours Earlier_

Six people sat in Director Vance's office, two stood, and one was on video conference from the comfort of his home. The conference table was housing Ducky at the head, Tony and Tim next to each other, Jimmy at the back end, and Abby and Ziva side by side. Gibbs stood in the corner, Vance was leaning on the edge of his desk. "Special Agent G Callen, team leader at NCIS: LA's OSP, also a long time friend of Gibbs." Vance introduced the young man on video to the team. "Nice to see you again, G!" Abby said. "And nice place!" she added. "Thanks. And nice to see you too, Abby. Gibbs." Callen said, turning to Gibbs at the end of his statement. "Callen." he simply replied. "So, what can I do for NCIS HQ?" he asked, looking at Vance again. "Operation Blaze of Glory, aka Operation B.O.G. We've got to do some undercover sting work here in DC." Vance said, directing the statement towards every one present. "I need OSP's cooperation." he concluded. "So... shouldn't you be talking to Hetty?" G was the only one to respond.

"Nope. I trust you more." Gibbs said from the corner. "Ok, fair enough. I'm game." "This is the short version. There's a terrorist cell, tight group. Only about twenty or so guys. But very dangerous. Special Agents McGee, DiNozzo. We need two people to get killed. You won't really die. Are you both ok with being those people?" Vance asked. "Yes, sir." They both said in unison. "Good. I'm having Special Agents Mike Renco, Lawrence Hanson, Louis Thomas, Jeff Hunt, Ned Dorneget, and Liam Green play the terrorists." "So that's where Renco rushed off to." Callen said, mostly to himself. "After Renco, Hanson, Thomas, Hunt, Dorneget, and Green get killed, they'll all return home. Don't worry, Callen, I'll make sure you get Renco back." "Thanks, Director. I appreciate that." Callen said with a chuckle. "After DiNozzo and McGee get killed, they'll get shipped down to OSP to work with your team, so their covers don't get blown. And so they can give you all the intel we've collected at this point." Vance said. "Think of it as interagency team bonding." he tacked on to the end of his statement.

"I've always wanted to go down to LA again. What about you, Tony?" Tim said. "I had the worst experience you can have while I was in LA" Tony said, shutting down. Crap. How could he be so stupid? Tim had forgotten about it. Not about her, but about where it happened. He would never forget her. "Then we'll give a full brief if we get to that point." the Director said. "Just one question, Director." Tony asked, a little confused. "What, DiNozzo?" "Why us?" Vance smiled. "I'm glad you asked. We want the head of the group to come out of hiding. Both of your families will give a very public reaction, your father being an ex-Admiral, and your father being the outspoken business man he is. That's what we want. We'll be giving loads of press conferences and taking to anybody and everybody who wants us to. This guy targets his anger at you two for some reason. We're hoping that by killing off you two, it will make him a little bit more cocky." "Sarah." was all Tim said. "My parents will be devastated." he spoke again. "Don't worry, Agent McGee. After they talk to all the media they want, we will sit your parents and sister down and tell them that you're not dead. The same goes for your father, Agent DiNozzo." Vance responded. Tim sighed a breath of relief. He really had thought this through..."Thank you, Director." "You all need to be in by six thirty at the latest tomorrow, so we can prep for the sting. That includes you, Agent Callen. Gibbs, I'll call you around seven and let you know when everybody is set up. Then you guys improvise when you get there." Vance said, pointing at Tony and Tim. "Gibbs, you call Callen if it works." "Alright. So let me sum this up." Ziva said. Tim and Tony die, we talk to the press, their families talk to the press, we brief them, put on a big show, catch the head of the cell, then get the rest of the cell?" She concluded, sounding the least bit confused. Ziva had done many things like this with Mossad. Many a time, Ziva and Ari were 'blown up' or 'killed in a shoot out'. She, personally, enjoyed those particular ops. Ari ,on the other foot, did not. He always complained that the blood packets were too heavy or the explosives were to hot. Or was it other hand? Vance looked over at her for the first time. "Yep. That's pretty much it, David. Oh, and before we go. Nobody breathes a word."

After everything was set up, Callen went into work three hours later with a lot on his mind. Sam could tell something was up when he saw his partner leave for the gym, or, more specifically, the punching bag. He decided to let him punch it out for a while. Get it out of his system. Blowing off steam like that always seemed to help G. Sam went back to his desk and almost said good morning to Kensi and Deeks, but they weren't there. Awesome. So, after Hetty slammed a bunch of cold case files on their desks, Sam changed into his gym clothes as well. Still no sign of Kensi and Deeks. Sam was going to tell Callen. That was a good excuse. He would give it five minuets. When he walked in, almost all of Callen's grey tank top was damp with sweat. "You want to talk about it?" Sam said, picking up some weights. "Nope. Can't." he replied, sending the bag flying with a right hook.

"That poor bag, I think you killed it." Deeks said, walking in with Kensi. "Look who decided to show up!" Sam said, looking up at the very late agents. "Deeks, Kensi, what are you guys doing here? There's cold cases on your desks; get to work." Callen asked, turning around. "I hadn't even told you that yet!" Sam said, awestruck. He swore he would never get how he did it. "Well, we got stuck in traffic and-" Deeks said before Sam cut him off. "We?" he said, getting a smile on his face. "What do you think, car troubles or 'I took a different route?'" Callen asked Sam, smiling as well. "Neither. I wanted to carpool today. Save the environment." Kensi said. "So, why is Callen killing punching bags?" Deeks said, looking at Sam. "Don't know. Yet." Sam replied. "Look, guys, I would tell you if I could, I swear. But I can't. Director's orders." Deeks was curious. And when he got curious, he investigated.

"Ok, then let's play Guess What Callen Is Up To Now then. Will you tell us if we guess it?" Deeks said, being his annoying self. "Oh why not. But you won't." Callen said, giving up trying to keep his team at bay. The team started to walk back to the bullpen and Deeks and Kensi began what seemed like a game of twenty questions. "Does it have to do with anyone who works at OSP?" Deeks asked. "Yes." Callen responded. "Is it Mike Renco?" Kensi asked. "Yes. Very good, Kensi. But he's just a small piece. He's only on it for ten minuets. I want you guys to guess the real people in it." Callen said, edging Deeks on. "Ok, do I know any of them?" Deeks asked. "Nope." "But they work at NCIS, right?" he asked. "Oh yeah." "Do I know them?" Kensi tried. "You've met two of them." Callen responded. The team had reached their desks. Callen sat down and looked through his e-mail. One was from McGee, the guy he'd spoken to earlier that morning. He'd have to look at that later. "Oh here's a good question. Is there a picture of any of the people in Hetty's office?" Deeks asked. "Nice one, Deeks!" Kensi congratulated her partner with a thumbs up. "Um.. I don't know. Let's go check." Now Callen had been sucked into the game too. As the team walked over to the empty office, Callen spotted a picture of him, Hetty, and Gibbs on an airplane. It was taken around twelve years ago. Callen could tell because Gibbs smile was barely present, and Callen's hair was a lot darker. And he had that weird goatee on his chin. But that was just for the op. He remembered sitting there with Gibbs in their hotel the night they got back to DC.

Flashback. The first thing Callen did when they got in was run to the bathroom. "You alright, G?" Gibbs called, throwing his stuff onto the bed. "Cause, I'm not feeling so good either. I guess that's what we get for eating Pig intestines. "The locals said it was good! I had no choice to believe them! And, yep. I'm fine. I threw em up on the plane. I just wanna get this fricken beard off my face! GOD, I hate Russia!" Callen called from the bathroom. "Yeah, you really don't look very good with a goatee." Gibbs said, laughing. "It's nice to hear you laugh again, Gibbs." "Yeah. I kinda like it too."Flash-forward.

"Yes, there is. And I'm in it too." Callen replied. Kensi and Deeks started to eliminate pictures. There weren't many pictures with both Hetty and Callen, so their next question eliminated all but three. "Does this person currently work with NCIS?" "Yes." Callen said confidently. "So it's either the one with G, Hetty, and the girl on the boat, G, Hetty, and the guy on the plane, or the one with G, Hetty, and the director." Sam said. "It's this one!" Kensi said, pointing at the one on the airplane. "How do you know?" Deeks asked. "Because everything Callen does has to do with the Director, I've never even seen that girl, and I recognize the face." Kensi said, "Who is that? The name is on the tip of my tongue." "One thing's for sure." Deeks said with a smile on his face. "What?" Sam said. "That is a very young G Callen." "Yep. Good times." Callen said. "Bad times too." he said. "Wait. I have an idea!" Kensi said, sticking her finger in the air like she did when she had a revelation. "If Hetty is as organized as we think," she started "Which she is," Deeks cut in, "Then she'll have the date and names on the back!" "Woah woah woah. That's a great idea and all, but what do we do when Hetty finds out we touched her stuff?" Deeks said. "True..." Kensi said, dejected her idea wouldn't work. "Don't worry. I'll handle it." Callen said, enjoying the game. "I'll say it's strengthening investigative skills on a day with no case." "Deal." Deeks said, carefully taking the picture off the wall. 'G, Jethro, and I. Russia, 1997.' read the back of the old photograph. "Ok, so Jethro is his name." Deeks said. "Jethro sounds familiar..." Sam said, deep in thought. "When did I meet him?" Kensi asked. "I can't tell you. That would give it away." Callen said, chucking. "Fine. Then we'll just go to Eric." Kensi said, spinning on her heel and walking up to OPS, Deeks and Sam in stride behind her.

Callen followed his team, laughing to himself. 'And this is why they give us a case everyday' he thought. As the gang four walked up to OPS, they heard a very strange noise coming from inside. "The doors are closed." Deeks observed, speaking over the muffled noise. When Callen stepped up to open the doors, they were greeted by music. "I'm on the right track, baby, I was born this way!" Hetty was listening to the GaGa again, this time at full volume. She was sitting next to Nell, who didn't seem to mind the exceptionally loud music. By now the whole building had probably heard 'Born This Way'. Eric was over on the other side of the room, checking his Twitter. Hetty stood up upon their arrival. "What are you four doing up here? Aren't you supposed to be working on cold cases?" she said, staring at Callen. Nell turned down the music so Callen could actually hear what was being said. Eric snickered at the other end of the room. "Mr. Beal, would you please get off the social networking and do something useful?" Hetty said, not even looking back at the man. "I- er- um- I'll get right on that." Eric spluttered. "So, why are you up here again?" She turned her attention back to the team. "They want to learn about that thing we talked about... They already found out about Jethro. I think Kensi's gonna die if she doesn't place the name and face together soon." Callen said with a smile. "Well, I'm glad that you three are concerned for Mr. Callen's well-being, but I don't think I need to assure you that he can take care of himself." Hetty replied. "As for Jethro, you will all find out in due time. So, I will be monitoring your movements for the next day until your are cleared, if you are cleared, to learn about him and what is going on." Hetty said, obviously trying to cover something up. "Now, cold cases are waiting for you."

**A/N: I just had to have Hetty blaring The GaGa. It seemed fitting, considering how depressing and awkward the last chapter was. And did you see the way she stonewalled them? Hetty 1 - Team Callen 0!**


	3. Ready Set Go

**************Ok, calm down. calm down. Breathe... WHY? I won't spoil it for anyone who hasn't seen the NCIS:LA finale, but for those of you who have, lets just pretend that *insert agents name here* didn't get *insert bad thing here*, ok? WAHHHH! I'm sad right now...** sorry the chapter's short, the next one is long.

******Disclaimer: I tragically do not own NCIS or NCIS:LA... Meh**

**Ready Set Go**

As Tony and Tim left work that night, they ended up going over to Tony's place and staying up half the night, talking about what to do in the morning. They talked about who should die first, what they should do and say, and things like that. "I wonder how my dad will take it." Tony wondered aloud. "Ask Gibbs when it's all over." Tim said. "You're scared." Tony quietly observed. "For my family. Sarah, my mom, my dad. I just hope my dad doesn't go rogue on Gibbs and pick a fight. I am scared. I'm not gonna lie." Tim said, his voice quavering. "I know, Tim. I know. You're the only one here with family that actually loves you and cares about you. But you heard Vance. We need a reaction. Your dad will certainly give one. Sometimes this job takes personal toll. Your family has to understand that." Tony said, patting his friend on the back. "I just hope they'll forgive me after this..." Tim said.

"Alright. Enough with the soppy stuff." Tony said, grabbing two beers from the fridge and walking over to his four cases of movies stacked up against the wall. "Ok. Movies, top shelf, TV shows, bottom shelf. Let's watch cop shows and make fun of their completely incorrect methods of solving crimes." Tony said with a smile. "Alright, Tony I'll give in. What show are we gonna watch?" "Well, we can go generic with CSI, or we could do something a little out there like Criminal Minds." Tony offered. "Do you have any DC Heroes on file?" Tim asked, his mood lightening a bit. "Only the first three seasons!" Tony exclaimed. "They're so horrible at solving fake crimes! I only watch it to point out all the flaws and stuff." Tim said, laughing. "Here's to NCIS." Tony said plopping down on the couch and flipping to top off his beer. "NCIS" Tim said and they clinked their beers together.

At two a.m, they were both too tired to move, and Tony was too drunk, so he rolled onto the floor and slept there until Tim woke him up at six. "Jesus, Probie! It's six in the fricken morning!" Tony said groggily. "Yeah, well, we have to be there in a half an hour, so get your skinny butt up, DiNozzo!" Tim said. "Fine. I'm coming mom!" Tony said jokingly. They were out the door ten minuets later and got to the Navy Yard in another five. "Nice of you two to join us." Gibbs said when they walked down to the garage. Vance walked up the the men. "Do you guys have a plan?" he asked. "Yes." Tony said. "Go tell them. Let's get a move on it, people!" Vance shouted the last part. So, Tony and Tim made their way over to Agents Renco and Dorneget and gave them a little layout of what they were thinking. Renco spoke after they finished. "As long as I get to kill DiNozzo, I'm cool." he said. "That happened a long time ago. I haven't even spoken to you since then!" tony said. "But I will permit you to kill me, Renco." "I'll shoot you in the leg." offered Liam Green. "Alright. Who's shoulder am I gonna blow out?" Tony asked "I'll do that. I'm not a very good actor, but I've been shot before. I know how it feels." Lawrence Hanson said. "Who wants to kill the geek?" Tim asked. "I'll go for that!" Jeff Hunt said. "Alright, great. So here's how it's gonna go down, one more time." Tony said. " Ziva is going to hit Dorneget and Thomas. One shot each. Next, Hunt is gonna triple-tap me in the chest, then Tony's gonna shoot Hanson. After that, Green is gonna shoot DiNozzo in the leg. Now, Renco is gonna have to be a good shot because he's going to roll over in pain. Then he's going to double-tap Tony in the stomach. And for the finale, Ziva and Gibbs are going to jump out from behind the boxes and triple-tap the rest of you. Any questions?" Tim said, gasping for air. No one shook their heads. "Alright. Good luck guys. Make sure you all are caught by the cameras when you go in." Tony said, whisking them off to the warehouse. He looked at Tim. "Ready set go."

The next twenty minuets went by really fast. When Tony heard Tim scream like that, it made his blood tingle. A chill went up his spine. That was a really good scream. Tim was lying there, making sure all his blood packets were doing their job. They were, so he squeezed some more blood out of his mouth as Tony ran over. He did a pretty good panic mode, and Tim tried so hard not to laugh when Tony's head slipped and landed right on a pack. But he managed not to. At that point, Tony was working up a good scream in his lungs, which still didn't let him scream practically at all. Unless it was a good day. And he didn't want to make a fool of himself by having his voice crack for when the LA team watched the tape. So, when he felt the air soft bullet hit his leg, he yelled instead of screamed. But his voice still cracked and sounded weird and he was actually fighting to breathe a bit. Adrenaline rushes did that to his crappy lungs. Stupid plague.

Then Renco's fake bullets hit his chest and he laid on the ground, Tim heard Ziva and Gibbs step out and nine shots rang out, just as they planned it. Ziva rushed over and Tim felt her cool breath over his very hot face. For being dead, he was sweating pretty badly. He wanted to smile, to let Ziva know that this was all fake, because it sounded like she was crying really hard. Tony wanted to add a little bit for his father when he watched the tape, so he decided not to die until Ziva came over. He told his female partner to tell his father that he loved him. The blood stains on both agents shirts were becoming very wet and heavy. They both were waiting for their cue to get up, the sound of Ziva shooting the security camera, to open their eyes and clean themselves up a little before they left for Los Angeles. Tony felt a little awkward when Ziva whispered in his ear. And when she stoked his hair. He was going to have to ask her about that sometime.

When everybody heard Gibbs get off the phone with Callen and Ziva shoot the camera, they all started to get up. Everybody was congratulating everyone else for a job well done. Renco was catching a flight with Tim and Tony back to LA, so they went back to HQ to get their fake IDs made. Tony was thinking about death for a while after that. He and Tim drove back alone, so he decided to run a concept by him. "Hey Tim. Do you have an idea for your new ID?" Tony asked. "Nope. I've got nothing. Why?" Tim responded. "Because I've been thinking about death for a while. Everybody we've lost. Kate. Jenny. So I was wondering, if you wanted to, let's make our last names Todd and Shepherd." Tony said, a single tear coming down his face.

"Wow, Tony. That's... that's really deep. And I think it's only fair. We never did anything after the funerals. You knew Jenny best. Kate was always nice to me. She stood up for me. I'll take Todd." Tim said after a short pause. "Then its settled. Meet Jack Shepherd." Tony said, looking over. "Nice to meet you, Jack. I'm Harry Todd." Tim said. "No. Not Harry. That's a horrible name. Harry Todd does not sound right. You look more like a..." Tony thought for a minuet. Josh? No, two J names would be weird... Max? Yeah, Max sounded good. "What about Max?" Tony suggested. "I kinda like that name. Max it is. Max Todd." "The shoe fits, Probie!" Tony exclaimed, glancing over to see his partner's reaction. "Cover story?" Tim asked. "Um... that's a good question." Tony said. "Tony, will you promise me one thing while we're in LA?" Tim asked, looking over at the driver. "What?" Tony asked, wondering what Tim wanted. "Please don't call me Probie!"

**Yay! They're off to LA! Next Tony confronts his demons, or at least tries to, and we get to hear the Life and Times of Timothy McGee**


	4. The Best of Times, The Worst of Times

******Ok, the life and times of our Timmy are coming up! Hope you've got your tissues. I cried a bit. Again. Enjoy.**

******Disclaimer: I tragically do not own NCIS or NCIS:LA... Meh**

After Tony and Tim got new IDs, passports, backgrounds, documents, and such, they met up with Renco at the airport. "Flight 23 to Sunny LA!" he said when he sat the other agents, waving their boarding passes in the air. "Unexpected upgrade! We got first class guys! Get ready for the awesome seven hour flight!" Renco said as they boarded. "Seven hours with you? I'm so excited!" Tony said, heavy on the sarcasm. As they found their seats, Tony immediately stole the window seat. "It's mine!" he stated, acting like a kid who had never been in first class.

"So what are your guys' cover stories?" Mike asked later into the flight. "We uh... we really don't have one yet." Tim said, pulling his laptop out of his carry-on bag. "The only things I can think of are bachelor party and brothers." Tim said again, looking at Tony. He was gazing out the window. Tim decided not to disturb him. He knew what he was most likely thinking about. "I don't think anybody would believe us if we said we were here for a bachelor party. And we look nothing like brothers. Plus, we don't even have the same last names." "Well, hopefully, you won't need one. But if you do, just say you're at a family reunion. Works for me every time." Mike replied. "You've done this sort of thing more than once?" Tim asked, shifting around in his seat. "That's what we do at OSP. Office of Special Project translates to more undercover work and explosions than you guys." Renco said smiling and looking over at an uneasy Tim.

The rest of the flight went smoothly, Tony thought. Except for when he had to go to the bathroom and the toilet clogged... Tony was in there for like a half an hour trying to clean _that_ mess up. But Tony didn't want to dwell on the erm... bad stuff. He had enough on his mind already. He just hoped that it wouldn't be too much to handle. Surely probie couldn't fix a complicated man like Tony's problems. Tony also didn't want to have to call Ziva. Ziva was the only one who could calm him down and stop him from going crazy for at least six months. Those were probably the second worst few months of his life. Tony didn't even want to try and dig up the worst. It would take too much. He only did that when there was a Jason Borne or James Bond marathon, where he was all alone and the sounds of gunshots, epic fights, and car chases overpowered his crying. Even Tony needed to let it all out at some point.

When they touched down, the first thing Renco did was take them shopping. They got haircuts and completely different clothes. No one could know that they weren't dead. So, Tim looked in the mirror at the department store. Max Todd had a buzz cut with a dark blue ball cap on backwards, a white t-shirt, tan cargo pants, and black converse. He looked over at Tony. Tony, who was fixing his hair, looked down at his ID. Jack Shepherd also had a buzz cut and was wearing a blue and yellow striped polo, jeans that cut off at his knees, and sandals.

They looked at each other, then back at Renco. "You guys ready yet?" he asked. "You take longer to get ready than my girlfriend." Tony looked over to the slightly shorter man. "You have a girlfriend? I thought I told all the women of the world not to date you." He said in all seriousness. "Well, I'm ready" Tim responded. "Max, you look like a McBadAss. I like your style." Tony said as they paid for their stuff. The three men walked out of the store and they got in the NCIS car they picked up at the airport. "Let's go meet the team. You're gonna love 'em." Renco said, almost sarcastically. "Am I supposed to take that seriously or no?" Tony asked, slightly confused by his deceptive tone. "You'll see. Special Agent Callen should be briefing his team right now, so we better hurry up and get there." Mike said as he started the engine. "Alright then, Renco. Giddy up!" Tony said as they sped off through the backstreets of LA so they could avoid the highway traffic. "Get ready, OSP, Tony and Tim are in the building." Tony said enthusiastically from the backseat. He still couldn't believe Tim had beat him to the front seat. "Tony, we're not even there yet!" Tim said, looking at his partner through the rear view mirror. "Fine, McPrecise. Tony and Tim are almost in the building!"

Gibbs walked into Vance's office. "Do you want to or should I?" he asked. "I would normally do it, but I think you should call them. I think they would appreciate it more even if they aren't actually dead. I tracked down Mr. DiNozzo. He's in New York. The McGee's are in Baltimore. Sarah's in DC still. Call her first." Vance said. "Ok. Thanks, Leon." "Knowing Senior, he'll catch a flight with someone and be here in the morning. The McGees will probably be here sometime after twelve. Sarah will be here in a half an hour or less." Gibbs said. "I've got my first press conference for ZNN in twenty." Vance said. "Alright, let's get this show on the road." Gibbs said. He looked at the note card Vance slipped him and dialed the first number. This was his least favorite part of the plan.

"Hello?" Sarah said. "Sarah McGee?" Gibbs asked, just to check. "Yes... Who is this?" She asked cautiously. "Special Agent Gibbs, Tim's boss." Gibbs said. "Oh my God. Is something wrong?" she asked, very scared. "I'm really sorry, Sarah, but... Tim was killed this morning." "NO! This can't be happening! It's- It's not fair! Timmy can't be-" Sarah was screaming and crying. "I'll be there in ten minuets." she said and hung up the phone. Gibbs dialed the next number. "Gibbs!" the man on the other side of the line said. "Nice to talk to you again. I'm guessing this isn't a social call..." Tony DiNozzo Senior said. "I'm afraid not. Mr. DiNozzo, I'm sorry to say, but Tony was killed this morning." Gibbs said, not sure what his reaction would be. "What? No that's- that's impossible." Tony was sputtering out random words, unable to form a sentence. "We need you come down to DC." Gibbs said when the man paused for a second. "Oh, of course. I'll- I'll be there by morning." Tony said, hanging up. The last call to make would be the hardest one. By far. But, Gibbs dialed anyway.

"Hello, McGee residence." A deep voice said. "Admiral McGee?" Gibbs said, wanting to be as formal as possible. "Yes. Speaking?" he asked. "This is Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs, Tim's boss. I have some very bad news. I'm so sorry, but your son was killed this morning." Gibbs said, holding his phone away from his ear a bit so he wouldn't go deaf if the Admiral yelled. And he was right in doing so. "NO! THIS ISN'T RIGHT! YOU'VE GOT THIS WRONG! TIMOTHY IS NOT DEAD! HE- HE CAN'T BE! THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE! It's- It's just not possible." The man yelled, lowering his voice at the end. The yelling turned into two sets of sobs. Tim's mother. "Mrs. McGee?" Gibbs asked. "Yes. P- ples- please call me E- Emma." She said, trying not to cry. "I need you and your husband to come down to DC. Sarah is on her way." Gibbs said as soothingly as he could. "Was -was an-anyone else h-hurt?" the distraught mother asked. "His best friend, Special Agent Tony DiNozzo died as well. He was trying to save your son's life." Gibbs said, lying his way into her heart. He felt horrible doing it. "O- oh. I'm so s- sorry for your l- loss. T- thank you. We- we're on o-our way." she said and hung up.

Ziva sat at her desk and started to produce legitimate tears. Not for her supposedly dead partners, no. They were living it up in Los Angeles by now. No, Ziva felt sorry for the families because this horrible, excruciating pain they were experiencing was completely fake. It was all a show. She put her saddest face on and stood up to greet the grieving Sarah when she same bursting through the doors to the stairwell a few minuets later. "I'm so sorry." Ziva said as she enveloped the crying sister in a bear hug. "How-?" she asked, still sobbing. "Let's wait for every one else to get here." Ziva said, letting go of the young woman. "We- were you t-there? When I-It happened?" she asked, sitting down at Tim's desk. "Yes." Ziva responded, putting her hand on her shoulder. Sarah grasped it and started to cry again.

"W- where's Agent DiNozzo?" she asked again. Gibbs sighed and spoke for the first time since Sarah had arrived. Ziva looked down at the floor. It pained her to tell Sarah this, but she had to. Millions of people's lives could be at stake. "He was killed also." "D-did you catch them?" Sarah asked again. "We shot all of the terrorists in the warehouse." Ziva said. She squatted down so she was eye to eye with Sarah. "You know what Tim did this morning, when he got in to work?" she said, trying to be nice. "W-What?" Sarah asked, looking up and wiping the tears from her eyes. "He told me that he'd found some pictures of himself when he was twelve. He said he'd brought his favorite one to work so he could put it on his wall. It was the cutest thing I've ever seen." Ziva said, pointing at a picture pinned to the board next to Tim's desk. Ziva wasn't lying, it just didn't happen yesterday. Ziva remembered the day well. Tony had decided long ago to make the particular date prank day at NCIS. Ziva had to admit it was a fun day...

Flashback. Tim walked into the squadroom with his gear and a smile on his face. "Woah, Tim's got something to share!" Tony said, turning to face the younger agent. He set his stuff down and walked over to Tony's desk. "Look what I found last night!" Tim said, pulling something out of an envelope and putting them in view of his partner. "Do you remember that weekend?" Tim said, smiling gently. Ziva walked over to examine what they were looking at. they were pictures of Abby, Tony, Tim, Jimmy, and another woman. She was very pretty. But something was wrong. Ziva had never seen that girl. She did not work at NCIS, or at least not since Ziva had arrived. They all did look very young in the photos. "Who is that?" Ziva said, pointing at the mystery woman in a cute picture with her and Tony.

"The late Special Agent Caitlyn 'Kate' Todd." Tony said, picking up the picture. "There is something else in that envelope." Ziva said, after a short silence."It's personal thing, guys!" Tim said, pulling the envelope away from Tony's grasp. "So that just makes it more of our business! You know I'm just going to find out anyway!" Tony said, begging to see what was inside. "For once, Tony, you are right. If you just waited a second, then you would find out without having to be extremely annoying." Tim said, walking over to his desk and pulling two thumbtacks out. He turned to the cork board that wrapped around the back corner of his desk. He took out what ever was in the envelope and put the tacks on the board. As he did so, he took the item from the envelope and positioned it next to his photo of himself and Jethro, his loyal dog. With his hand still covering the paper, he tacked it to his board and began to type on his computer. Tony sat on the edge of his seat, waiting for the perfect chance to look at the new addition to Tim's board.

"Come on over, DiNozzo." Tim said without looking up. Tony jumped up and ran over, Ziva in stride behind him. "Who is that, McGee?" Ziva asked, staring in awe at the picture on his wall. "It's me and my sister. I was twelve, she was about a year old." Ziva smiled. Tim was sitting cross-legged in navy blue footy pajamas that had battleships on them. They looked new. There was a Christmas tree behind him. On his left knee sat a brand new computer. On his right sat an adorable little baby girl, playing with a stuffed animal. Ziva couldn't tell who's smile was bigger, Sarah's or Tim's. As she looked, Ziva thought it was Tim's. The young sandy haired boy looked so different than he did today. Ziva looked at the great man he'd become, when she saw two other pictures on his desk.

Tony had long since gone back to his own desk. Apparently, the happy memory didn't amuse him. One of the pictures was on the same day, Christmas. A much smaller Tim was on his father's lap, giggling because he was being tickled. The one next to it was also of Tim and his father, but this time, Tim looked like he'd just been crying and he was hugging his father. His father had on a brand new Navy uniform. Tony had walked over right before Tim had started to voluntarily tell his life story. "I was almost six when my dad enlisted. He was shipped off about six months later. We were in a hurry to take the photo because my dad had to go. So he looked at me and said, 'Smile for mom, Timmy. I don't want you to look sad when I show everybody this picture of the smartest six year old in the world.' My dad took the film and got it developed before he was set sail." He said, recalling things he hadn't thought about in a long time.

"Before he left, he took me in his arms. The conversation went a bit like this. 'Timmy, boy, I'm gonna miss you. Practice your math every night, and keep reading that Harry Potter book, ok? I want it finished by the time I get back.' 'Ok, daddy. I'll read it twice! Once for you too.' 'Good. Timmy, when I'm gone, You're the man of the house. Take care of your mommy, ok?' 'I will, daddy. I will! I promise!' Ziva could almost hear the little boy crying. "He said that he would put it in his uniform and sneak it out when ever he could. He even got caught once." Tim chuckled. "But my dad's CO saw the look in his eyes, then the look in my eyes and said he better not catch him again." Tim said, looking up at Tony and Ziva. He smiled and said, "You know, I loved to tell people that my dad was out saving the world, but when he got home eleven months later, he was different. He didn't pay much attention to me anymore, not like he used to. I had a problem with not getting attention, being an only child." "Imagine that." Tony said. Ziva punched him in the arm. "Shut up!"

"He left again, five months later. That time, he was picked for some special assignment. Top secret. I never even found out what it was about. But what ever kept my dad away from me for that long had better been pretty fricken important." He finished in disgust. "How long was he gone?" Ziva asked, tearing up. "Three years, two months, and fourteen days. And yeah, I memorized it. The Navy gave him a year at home, then he was gone again for seven months. He missed Sarah's birth. That really made me mad. It still kinda makes her mad, but that's what you get for joining the Navy." Tim said with a sigh. "When I was twelve, all I wanted for Christmas was for my dad to come home. I made my mom take me to Macy's late that night to send my letter to Santa. The next morning, the only Christmas I didn't open all of my presents before, I saw a box that didn't fit under the tree. I tore it open, and found a note. It said to look outside. So, I looked out the family room window and there was my dad, making the goofiest face in the world. That was the second happiest day of my life." Tim smiled. Tony cleared his throat. "Wow. And I thought my Christmas' sucked." Flash-forward.

"W- What was the happiest day? Did he tell you?" Sarah had taken the picture off the wall and found the others he kept around his desk. Ziva smiled and looked down at Tim's sister. "The first day you came home. He said he sat down on the couch and asked if he could hold you. Your mother said yes. He said that he thought if he dropped you, you would break. So, he laid there, on the couch and took a nap with you by his side. That was the happiest day of his life." Sarah smiled and for the first time that day, she cried happy tears. "He would be proud of you, Sarah. He loved you so much." "Thanks, Ziva. I- I just wish that someone would sit me down and look me in the eye and tell me that he's- he's not gone." Ziva sighed. His family was not going to take kindly to finding out they'd been played. She could tell. "Me too, Sarah. Me too."

**Was that the saddest thing ever? The next chapter is much shorter because I'm not really sure how this chapter grew to be 3,000 words long! I guess I got a little involved in the backstory. Oh well. Thanks to everyone who has been reading, reviewing, and following the story so far! It really means a lot to me! **


	5. Nice To Meet You Too

******Aren't you glad I made Renco so crazy? Me too. He makes for a better story line. And funnier scenes.**

******Disclaimer: I tragically do not own NCIS or NCIS:LA... Meh**

**Nice To Meet You Too**

"RENCO, YOU DRIVE LIKE A FRICKEN MANIAC!" Tony shouted as they turned a sharp corner in the backstreets of LA. "That's why they don't let me drive company cars anymore!" Renco said, yelling over the sound of squealing tires and burning rubber. "I'D LIKE TO SEE TOMORROW, RENCO! I DON'T WANNA DIE! Vance said I wouldn't _actually_ die!" Tim said, leaning out the window to barf again. "Well, Vance didn't tell you I was driving, McGee!" Renco said. The smile on his face officially declared him crazy. A few near wipeouts and two barf bags later, Renco turned down a seemingly abandoned alley. There were four security cameras watching them. "We're here!" Mike said, getting out of the car. "Thanks." Tony said, punching him in the arm. "I'm telling Callen." Tim muttered.

The giant building was an old Spanish monastery."Welcome to NCIS: LA, OSP!" Renco said stretching his arms out to display the large office. "Neat place, Renco." Tony said, remembering the last time he was in LA. He mustered the strength to put a smile on his face. Tony had never really shown emotion around his team, let alone Tim. The timid man needed a role model and Tony wanted it to be him. If he showed any signs of distress, Tim would lose it. Of that, Tony was convinced. Tim was a good enough investigator to tell that the smile on Tony's face was fake, if not, very hard to do. Tim knew that Tony hated LA, that he never wanted to come back, but he was always to open minded to change of opinion. Plus, a successful mission like this looks good on your track record. Renco started to walk up the stairs, gesturing for the partners to do the same. He got to the landing and looked back. Tony had frozen and Tim was next to him.

Mike decided to let the men work out whatever it was exactly because they had history together, and they had time on their side. He leaned on the railing and waited. Tim looked at Tony, who had stopped walking all together. The smile was gone, replaced by an emotionless face. He was staring into space and had the slightest trace of a tear in his eyes. Tim put his arm around the older man. "Hey. I know you're thinking about her again. It's done, Tony. We need you here. Now. Remember WWGD?" "What Would Gibbs Do?" Tony asked. "Yeah. So what would he do?" Tim said, whispering in Tony's ear. "Headslap me. And tell me to get my head back in the game." "Exactly. I'm not gonna slap you, but, come on Tony. Pull it together. You're so better than this! Vance is expecting us on video conference." Tim said, looking up at Renco who was still leaning against the rail. "Are we ready?" he asked. "Yep," Tony said, jogging up the stairs. Tim smiled and ran up after him. He'd successfully done something he never thought possible. Cheer Anthony Demitrio DiNozzo up.

Although Tim was glad Tony felt better, he was more excited about what he was about to do. He slid into stride with him and waited until they walked into the OPS center. The team looked over at the two new faces in the room then frowned with confusion at what just happened. Tim was laughing internally, but he kept a straight face. Then, once the team looked over at them to see who was coming in, he headslapped Tony. "I didn't say I wouldn't slap you later." he said, grinning like an idiot. "If this were any other situation, I would drop you. But, and if you tell anyone else this I will slap you silly, I needed that." Tony said, clapping his partner on the back. Callen was the only one laughing. "He does that to you guys too?" he laughed again and extended his hand in Tony's direction. "I'm Special Agent G Callen. Nice to meet you. I've heard um.. interesting things about you. Gibbs speaks highly of you, though." "Yeah? Well, that makes sense. I'm a pretty interesting guy. Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo. Call me Tony. And yeah, he headslaps us. A lot." Tony said, shaking the younger man's hand. "But mostly Tony. The rest of us he just stares at. Nice to see you again, Callen." Tim said, shaking his hand as well. "Special Agents Sam Hanna," Callen started to introduce his team to Tony and Tim. Tony was shaking their hands as G said the names, "and Kensi Blye. And this is our Liaison with LAPD Marty Deeks," This time both D.C. agents shook the man's hand. "and our techies, Eric Beal and Nell Jones."When Tim made eye contact with Eric, he saw that Eric still didn't like him after they had that fight about Abby. However, when questioned about it, he stated that he didn't start it, and he clearly had the upper hand in the argument. He went out with her for like two years, he graduated top of his class in FLETC and MIT. Eric only had a 3.7 GPA, Tim had a 3.9. Stupid Fencing class. And, he was an actual agent, not just a gremlin who never left his room. They had Palmer to do that job. Tim turned his attention back to the agents standing before him. "Ok, so have they been briefed yet?" Tim asked Callen. "Nope, I was going to wait for you guys. I don't really have the full story."

"Alright, cool. Um, the director should have e-mailed you the security tape by now, Callen." Tim said in response. "It's easier to explain if you watch it first." "Pulling up Callen's email. Password?" Eric said, trying to weasel information out of him. "Not a chance, Eric," he said, grabbing the iPad from his hands. He typed in his password. Only Hetty knew it. Personally, it was kind of a depressing password, but to anyone else, it would make them happy. Family. That was his password. He handed the tablet back to Eric and waited for the video to load. "This is around six forty five am today." Tim said. Six men walked in, each wielding two guns. They were laughing and joking around. "Pause it." Tony said, walking up to the screen. Tim walked over to Eric to have a crash course on how to use the remote.

"These are Special Agents Renco," Tony started, gesturing to Mike, who was leaning up against the table like the rest of the team. "Lawrence Hanson, Louis Thomas, Jeff Hunt, Ned Dorneget, and Liam Green playing terrorists." Tony said. Tim resumed the video and fast forwarded twenty minuets. "This is our team. Special Agents Leroy Jethro Gibbs and Ziva David." Tony said, pointing out the two still in DC. And this is our OP." he concluded. Kensi saw the firefight and death. It was very well acted, and the part Tony added about his dad at the end was touching. Of, course, Kensi thought anytime people did stuff like that she thought it was touching. But Tony's voice got a little funny at the end. It was a very weird noise. The first person to speak after the video concluded was Deeks. And of course he was going to be the only one to point it out.

"I don't mean to be rude," "But he will be." Kensi cut in. "But why does your voice sound so bad?" he said, chuckling a bit at the end "You had to ask." Tim said before Tony told the epic tale. "Well because I opened an envelope that had a genetically altered strain of pneumonic plague seven years ago! I almost died from it! And as a result, my lungs have severe scarring, which means if I'm in a stressful situation or I don't have a lot of oxygen, then my voice gets all cracked and my throat gets dry! It's not my fault crazy people like to kill federal agents!" Tony said, sounding a bit exasperated. "Yeah, Tony. We know." Tim said, calming his partner down.

"Ok, so on that note, why are you guys dead, exactly?" Kensi asked. "Well, there's a small but mighty terrorist cell called The Conquistadors. South American. DC Metro picked up six of their guys on a speeding ticket. When they found out NCIS was investigating them, they turned them over to us." Tim said, handing the tablet back to Eric. Tony spoke. "One of them spilled, said that the leader's been in hiding for two years now, but here's the thing. He's still successfully running the cell and no one can find him. But he's got this thing for Tim and I. We think it's because of a case we worked three years ago. Another South American terrorist group Liberdad Nueva, had ties to the leader. We took down a few of the guys, who happened to be directly related to the leader."

"Do we know the leader's name?" Sam asked. "No. They all said that they knew him as Ponce. It's a reference to the Spanish Conquistador Ponce de Leon, the guy who discovered Florida looking for the Fountain of Youth. Any way, we picked up chatter that Ponce had something big planned. Both of our names were picked up as well." Tim replied. "So, we got six agents to dress up as the terrorists, and made it seem like they killed us and we killed them." Tim concluded. "To make him think members of his cell got to you two first?" Kensi asked. Tony nodded. "The plan is to heavily publicize out deaths to lure Ponce out of hiding. Our families and Vance will be very involved with the media as long as we need to. The first sign we see of him resurfacing, we're going to stop." Tony said.

"That's pretty smart." Deeks said. "So why are you guys down here?" Kensi asked. "We're supposed to be dead. Nobody can know we aren't until its safe." Tony said. "Plus, Vance needs tech support. And you guys got the bigger half of the budget." Tim said, disappointment evident in his voice. Eric smiled. "Alright. Well, welcome to LA" Sam said. "Yeah, thanks. But we've both been here before ." Tony said, reverting to his solemn state. "Then welcome back." Callen said. "I'm gonna call Gibbs." He said, leaving the alone in OPS. "Ok, so what are your guys' aliases?" Tony could tell that Deeks was a bit like himself. "Max Todd and Jack Shepherd" Tim responded before Tony lost it. Deeks got a cocky grin on his face. Kensi knew what he said when he got that grin. "Don't do it, Deeks!" Kensi shouted. Deeks, however, continued."So, Fern, Max, Jack." "You did it! You called me Fern when I specifically told you not to!" Kensi said, punching her partner in the arm. Deeks just ignored her. "You guys wanna take LA the Marty Deeks way?"

**OK, I'm sorry, but I HAD to put Fern in here! Because I laugh every time Deeks calls her Fern. I can't wait to explain that to the DC guys... Then have them explain headslaps. What a fun chapter that shall be to write. Let me know what you think of it so far!**


	6. The Hardest Part

**Next Chapter! Its relatively long, but I gave you a pretty um... *insert srtong emotion here* cliffhanger at the end. And here's how you might be during this chapter- Read. 'Aww...' Read. 'I feel sorry for them!' Read. laugh. Review. Read. Laugh harder. read. Scream. 'WHAT?' You have been given a heads up, so yeah...**

The elevator opened and three people stepped out, two holding hands. All three had faces redder than cherries and eyes as puffy as ever. Gibbs stood up and greeted them all. "Mr. DiNozzo." he politely said, holding his hand out to be shaken. "Gibbs. It's nice to see you again." Tony DiNozzo Senior put on a brave face. 'Just like his son.' thought Gibbs. "I just wish is weren't under the circumstances." Gibbs said, engaging in a firm hand shake. He then moved past the distraught father and came to the McGees. Emma and Henry McGee looked like nice people at first glance. Gibbs looked the former admiral in the eye.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. McGee and Mrs. McGee. I'm Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs, your son's... boss." Gibbs choked on the last word to make it seem that he was feeling bad. Senior was hugging Ziva, who was whispering in his ear as to comfort him. It seemed to be working.

"Please. Call me Henry." the father said. "And Emma." the upset mother said, introducing herself. After they all shook hands, Sarah got up and went to her parent's warm embrace. Ziva introduced herself as they let go. "Now that we're all here, I want to see the security tape." Sarah said defiantly. She had long since stopped crying; it was out of her system for the moment. "Security tape?" Senior asked. No one responded.

Gibbs gestured to the plasma as Ziva went back to her computer and pulled it up. As the video began to play, a hush fell over the whole floor. Everybody came over and watched the horrifying deaths. Nobody beyond the MCRT plus Abby, Ducky, and Jimmy knew it was all fake. These people thought Tim and Tony were dead. Gibbs looked around at the mass of agents gathered behind the bull pen walls. It seemed like the whole floor was there. They were all stricken by the horrible incident.

Senior cried when Tony said he loved him. Apparently those cameras had sensitive speakers. But luckily they didn't pick up anything Ziva had whispered into the agent's ears. Ziva felt bad that she'd even spoken. She could have messed it all up. As the portion that they were going to show stopped, Henry and Emma began to sob.

Gibbs hated it. He hated the whole thing, but it had to be done. These men could not hurt or kill anyone else. And now that they have their hands on some serious firepower courtesy of their friends in the middle east, Liberdad Nueva was no longer shut down. It was going to get the US somehow. 'The next nine eleven' as Gibbs had previously called it.

The other agents had all gone back to 'work'. They were probably calling co-workers and telling them about what they'd just seen. Work wouldn't resume for the remainder of the day, and everybody knew that. All of the sudden, Tony's desk phone rang. Gibbs looked over and tears formed in his eyes. Senior walked over and sat down. He started going through the drawers. Gibbs, for once, didn't mind. He knew the agents didn't have anything bad in there. Ziva walked over to the McGees after getting off her phone.

"Director Vance would like to see all of you in his office. I will show you up." She said, motioning to the upstairs. The four family members followed her up and when she got to the office, Ziva slipped into MTAC. Gibbs was already on his way up. Ziva walked over to the people at the computers. She never even bothered to learn their names. "Can you secure the feed from Los Angeles? she asked the operator she was friendly with. "Um.. yes, Agent David. I can do that. Maximum security?" She asked. "As high as you can go. I don't want anybody to see this." Ziva replied, walking to the center of the room where Gibbs stood. "You ready?" her boss asked, glancing over at her.

"Of course I am! I kind of miss them." Ziva said, blushing a bit. "It's ok to miss your partner, Ziva. Don't be embarrassed." Gibbs advised.

As the feed came up, with Callen grinning at them, Gibbs motioned for the operators to leave. Once they were all gone, Gibbs began. "Callen. You're taking good care of our agents, I presume?" he asked, smiling at his long time friend. "Nope. Not really." Callen replied, grinning. "Hey! I heard that!"

Ziva smiled as she heard Tony yelling from the back of the room. "Hey boss!" Tim said when he walked into view, Tony right behind him. "How's everything going in DC?" Tony asked, getting a little more serious. "We just showed the tape to your families. They are talking with Vance now." Tim looked down at the floor. "How ah... How did they take it?" he asked. "Your mother was the worst." Ziva stated. "I talked with Sarah for a while, she seems to have accepted it by now. Which kills me, but it is necessary." she answered.

"Hey guys! We got the Chinese- Woah. Who are those people?" a man said when he walked in. There was another man behind him and a woman next to him. Callen looked over at what Ziva thought was his team. "Deeks, Kensi, Sam. Meet my old friend, Leroy Jethro Gibbs." he stated, gesturing to the man on the screen. "That's who he is!" Kensi exclaimed, dropping the carry out on the OPS table. "Miss Blye." Hetty said, coming from the shadows of the room, startling Eric. "Yes?" Kensi asked, looking at her boss. Hetty just glared at her. Kensi realized why and grabbed the food. "Shoot. Um.. Chinese will have to wait. It'll be on your desks. I'll be right back." She said, running out.

"And that is um..." Callen started, not remembering her name. "Ziva David." Ziva said kindly, looking at everyone in the room. "Wait a second. Where do I know that name? David..." Deeks said, thinking. Sam came to a conclusion first. "David. You're Mossad, right?" "Ex- Mossad." Ziva said emphasizing the ex. Gibbs looked at her and smiled. People did that all the time. "Henrietta. Nice to see you again." Gibbs said, greeting another old friend. Hetty smiled.

"Alright. Let's get down to business." Tony said, speaking up. "DiNozzo, McGee, full brief. Go." Gibbs said, returning to reality and the case. Sam was surprised at how they did things down there. Much different. Deeks was just waiting for them to get off duty. These two looked like they could use some LA parting. He had already called under a few of his old aliases and gotten them into an exclusive box at the Lakers game, a VIP lounge at a club in Malibu, and a free trip to the Marty Deeks bachelor pad. Callen and Sam were gonna meet them at his place around eleven, if everything worked out. Tim started talking."We haven't blown our cover yet. Well, Tony hasn't blown it yet."

"What?" Tony said, looking up from his phone. Ziva smiled. She would bet money that the next thing Gibbs was going to say would be something along the lines of 'Slap him,' And she was right "McGee, slap him for me." Gibbs responded. Tim got an evil grin on his face and reached back behind Tony's head while Tony said' "I'm sorry, Boss! Make it quick, McGee." Then Tim did something only Callen and Ziva saw coming.

Kensi was bewildered at the sight. Why did they do that? It looked like it hurt. Tim slapped DiNozzo on the back of the head so hard, he winced. "Atta boy, McGee." Gibbs said. "Good job, McGee." Ziva said, congratulating her partner.

"Some arm you got there, Tim. Anyway, so Boss. We picked up some chatter that included most of our key words." "When?" Gibbs inquired. "Yesterday. We got NCIS, DiNozzo, McGee, dead, attack, and America. The last one was in almost every single one, as you might guess." Tim said, looking down at his iPhone.

"Liberdad Nueva is very small now. It used to be a larger organization, but after you guys shut most of it down three years ago, they've become richer and more focused on America." Sam said, catching on to the briefing style. "They've been receiving large amounts of money from all over the world for the past year, according to their bank accounts." Eric said, turing around to face both teams.

"Ok. So what do we do at this point?" Ziva asked, not sure what they're plan was as of now. "Good question, Agent David." Vance said, walking into MTAC. "DiNozzo. McGee. I'm glad you made it to Los Angeles ok." he asked, sliding up next to Gibbs. "Flight was great, Director." Tony said, greeting his second boss. "So," Vance said, turning to everyone. "Who's got a plan?"

Harry McGee was over being sad. He was outraged. Why? Sarah seemed to have accepted it by now, but Harry sensed that she had talked to that David girl. She seemed suspicious. She was not the least bit choked up. But he had seem the security tape. His boy was dead.

Timmy, the little boy who used to make battleships and float them in his bath. Tim, the boy who was pushed down a cliff and broke his arm. Tim, the man who had saved hundreds of lives in one day on multiple occasions. Tim, the boy that grew up every where in the US. Tim, the brother that taught Sarah how to swim when they lived in Portland. Tim, the man who joined a federal agency. Tim, the famous author. Tim, the civilian that died for his country.

"I am very sorry for all of your losses. The whole office has been very torn up over it. They all wish you well." the Director of NCIS told the families. "What happens now?" Harry asked. "Well, I have a press conference in ten minuets. The media has been wanting to know more about the terrorist cell we brought down, the same cell that killed your children and brother." he said, hoping one of them would bite. And he was right. "Can we join you? I would like to speak out against these people." Harry asked, standing up. "Of course. You can tell them anything you want." Vance said. Mr. DiNozzo stood as well.

"I have to get back to New York. Business meeting." he said, grabbing his briefcase. "Thank you for coming, Mr DiNozzo. We will have someone contact you about a... funeral." Vance responded, getting a bit choked up at the end. "Can... Can I see.. Junior?" he asked, a tear rolling down his cheek. "We have to do the autopsy first, Mr. DiNozzo. I'm afraid that won't be possible. I'm sorry." Vance said, opening his door for the man. Tony couldn't believe it.

His little boy was gone. He remembered something Bianca, Junior's real mom, had said before she died. "A boy should always out live his parents." That would never come true for the DiNozzo family. A family torn apart by death. A family no more. Junior hadn't even spoken to him in a year. He couldn't remember the last things they said to each other. And now little Anthony would never fly around the house again saying 'I'm a plane, mommy!' He would never hug his father again. He would never come home from school with a girl again. He would never call his dad and tell him to come visit. He would never tell his dad 'I love you.' ever again. And that's what Tony hated the most.

The wealthy man would once again be on the front page of the business section. "Anthony DiNozzo Shaken by the Sudden Death of Son". And then under it- "First the mother, now his only child are both dead. What is DiNozzo's next move?" Just then he got a call. It was from his corporation. So, they had already found out. Tony sighed and picked up the phone.

Tim decided he loved LA. Tony decided to give LA a second chance. After all, it technically happened in Nevada. Deeks decided tonight was going to be the best one of his life. Sam decided DC agents weren't so bad. Callen decided he really needed to get out some more. And tonight was going to be the start of that. Kensi decided that boys needed to go out and have fun together once and a while. Eric decided he was mad at Deeks for not inviting him tonight. But, none the less, he was going to tag along. Nell decided she should stay out of this one and let the guys do their own thing. Hetty decided they had to be careful, or all the agent's cover's would be blown and all hell would break loose.

At five o' clock, Deeks smile was wider than a child's when they get a chocolate bar the size of their head. "Alright, party of three, we have a Lakers game to watch!" he almost yelled. "Mr. Deeks, this is a federal office building, please keep your voice down!" Hety said, not even looking up from her desk. "Sorry, Hetty. Ok. Um... Callen, Sam, Eric, be at my place at eleven unless I tell you otherwise." Deeks said as he grabbed his coat and ushered Tony and Tim out the door.

"Lakers game? We're going to a Lakers game?" Tony said, shocked. "Yep. We got a box all to ourselves baby. half court line." Deeks replied, smiling yet again. 'This is gonna be awesome!" Tony exclaimed. "Hey hey hey, keep it down uh.." Deeks started, forgetting Tony's alias. "Jack Shepherd." Tony supplied. "Right. Keep it down, Jack. People live here, you know." Deeks corrected. "Yeah, Jack. Shut your trap." Tim said mockingly. "Whatever, Max. You aren't Gibbs. Don't tell me what to do." Tony replied as they walked to the car.

"So..." Deeks started to break whatever tension was developing, "What's your story, Jack?" "What do you mean?" Tony repleid, a bit curious. "What's your story? Where are you from, where'd you grow up, stuff like that. You know, backstory." Deeks asked again.

"Backstory? Well, I grew up in Long Island, New York. My dad is a rich con man, who cut me off from the family fortune when I was twelve. My mom ah.. died when I was eight. that's when I started to go to boarding schools. Worked at Peoria PD, then Philidelphia, then Baltimore PD for two years. And that's when Gibbs found me in 2001. Been working at NCIS ever since." Tony said, giving the most general description possible.

"Wow. Eleven years. Where have you been stationed?" Deeks repled, impressed. "DC. Most of the time. About four years ago I was Agent Afloat for like four months. It sucked. But I was assigned to Gibbs as a Probie. He pulled some strings to get me on his team. I guess he liked me." Tony said, shrugging. "What about you, Max? Where you from?" Deeks inquiered, digging for something interesting.

"Well, I was born in Norfolk, Maryland. Lived there until I was six. Then my dad joined the Navy. After that, me and my mom were moved all around the country. My sister was born when I was eleven. I always wanted to be a cop for some reason. So I joined NCIS in 2003, seeing as my dad was Navy. And that's the year I met Gibbs and his team. I was as green as they come, since I was only twenty six. But after that, I was desperate to get on his team. So every chance I got, I drove down from Norfolk to help them. And then Gibbs saw how much I liked it there, and he got me transfered to his team. Been there ever since." Tim concluded, looking out the window of Deeks' car. Tony, of course, stole shotgun.

"So who are the Lakers playing?" Tim asked. "The Cavs." Deeks replied. "What city are they in?" Tim asked again. He didn't know much about basketball. "Cleveland, Ohio. They're ok." Tony said before Deeks could answer. "Ever been to Ohio?" Tony asked Deeks. "No, but I imagine it's pretty fricken boring though." Deeks answered, laughing at the end. "Hey! It's not all bad!" Tony said, getting a bit defensive. Tim chuckled. He knew where this was going. "Really? When did you go there?" Deeks asked, laughing some more. "I went to college there! OSU!" Tony responded. "Well then. I'm sorry." Deeks said sarcastically. "Oh. You don't want to start a sarcasm fight. You will get creamed." Tim responded.

After that, Tony and Deeks got in to the largest sarcasm war ever. It was all in good fun, and everybody was dying of laughter by the time they got to the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles.

As they sat through the three hour game, Tony, Deeks, and Tim were barely paying attention; they were having to much fun getting to know each other. After the game was over, Deeks drove them to the most exclusive club in LA, called Palm. They got settled in the VIP lounge, where Tony and Deeks got a little more than buzzed, so Tim had to drive them to Deeks' flat, where Sam, Eric, and Callen were waiting inside.

At the end of the boys night, Tony and Deeks were passed out on the floor, Eric was getting a bit tipsy, Sam was at home, and Tim and Callen were almost completely sober. "Well, Callen. It looks like it's just you and me." Tim said, glancing back at his fellow agent. Eric was on the couch watching reality TV and laughing at the Kardashians. "Silly Kim! Don't buy the green shoes! Orange is more your color!" he said, slurring his words in the middle.

"And that," Callen said, pointing at Eric, "is why we never let him drink." he concluded. "I can tell." Tim replied with a laugh. "Hey guys! You wanna go play some ping pong?" Eric yelled, looking back at the agents. "Eric, Deeks doesn't even have a ping pong table." Callen replied. "Oh. Let's make one then!" he thought. At this point Tim was laughing so hard he had to sit down. "This guy is crazy!" he said, howling with laughter as Eric tried to get up and walk around. "I told you." Callen said, laughing a bit.

Eric tripped over Tony, who was sprawled out on the floor. "Watch where you're going!" he said, regaining what little balance he had. Callen and Tim sat down at the bar and left Eric to destroy Deek's apartment. "Hetty's gonna be so mad tomorrow." Callen said, looking around the messy room.

"You know, I've only gotten druk once?" Tim said. "When? College?" Callen asked. "No. I went to MIT and graduated early. I was only nineteen. Too young to drink. So one year I went to the annual NCIS karaoke night at a bar in Georgetown. Tony and I got so drunk we went up on stage and sang 'Sweet Home Alabama' together. It's safe to say somebody got that on video. But it was the best night of my life." Tim said with a smile.

"Hey. I know what we should do." Callen said smirking. He pulled a permanent marker out of his pants pocket. "Yes!" Tim said. He was finally going ot get Tony back for all the superglue and everything else he'd ever done to him. "This is perfect." Tim said as Callen drew a moustach and monocle on Deeks' face. Tony got the pleasure of having a beard and the word 'nerd' written across his forehead. After that, Callen left a note on the counter, wiped his marker clean of prints, and drove Tim back to his hotel. "I had a great time tonight, G." Tim said as he got out of the car. "Me too." Callen said as he left. Callen looked out the window as he drove off into the night.

Callen glanced down at his phone in the cup holder next to him. He realized that his wallet wasn't there. "Aw crap." he said. He drove back to Deeks' apartment, where the two men were still passed out on the floor. Eric had found some pillows and was sleeping on the couch.

Callen laughed at the sight, grabbed his wallet, and locked the door behind him as he left. He hopped back into his car and started to drive back home. However, he got caught up at the stoplight at the end of Deeks' street. A second later, the light turned green.

He started to drive, only to be stopped just as soon. A car slammed into the passenger side of Callen's car. And another crashed into the backseat.

**OMG! Callen! What do you think? Was it intentional? Or was it a coincidence? "I don't believe in coincidences!" Sorry Gibbs. Do you like it? Let me know because I just love reviews!**


	7. Setback

**Sorry to keep you guys waiting a super duper long time, I fell behind on writing... Speaking of that, I'm going to give you an update on that. I have part of the next chapter written, so it might be a while until the next update. Not a horribly long time, but a week or so maybe. I'm not sure. I guess you'll know when I do... Anyway, here's the next chapter. Enjoy!**

Kensi sat in her apartment watching her favorite movie, Titanic. She was sitting there on the couch, crying and eating ice cream out of the tub. "Don't die, Jack! Stay with Rose! She needs you!" she said to the TV. She'd seen the movie a million times, and it never changed. She hoped the boys were having fun. Just then, her phone rang. She stopped crying and looked at the caller ID. Not one of her contacts. Being cautious, she let the phone go to voice mail.

"Kensi! You need to get down here now!" It was Tim. "Where are you?" she said as she answered the phone and cut him off. She sprang up and grabbed her badge and gun. "Intersection of Flower and Paxton roads, three blocks from Deeks' place." he yelled. "What happened?" Kensi yelled as she put the phone on speaker and sped off.

"I'm not exactly sure yet. It's Callen, Kensi. He's- he's- oh my God. Kensi! You- you have to get down here! Oh God oh God!" was all Tim could seem to get out of his mouth. Ten minuets later Kensi arrived at the intersection, which was all taped off. She saw three cars all in ruins in the middle of the road. She ducked under the tape. "Ma'am, you can't be in here. This is a-" a police officer approached her. Kensi shoved her badge in his face and he let her pass.

She ran over to the black car that belonged to Callen. "Where is he?" Kensi asked. The dark of night was lit up by the abundance of flashing blue and red lights. "He's over there." someone pointed off to the left. Kensi rushed over and found Tim next to him. He was cleaning up the bleeding gash in Callen's arm with his shirt. It and his jacket both had a lot of blood on it. That wasn't good.

"Do you know what name he's using?" Kensi whispered. "I think I saw Blake Lumsfeld on his driver's license." Tim answered, just as quiet. She could tell he'd been crying as well. He really cared. Tim had met him once, if you could really call it a meeting. He'd been in Los Angeles for less than a few days, and he was crying over someone he'd barely talked to. 'Tim is a good man.' Kensi thought as she examined her friend.

"Blake!" Kensi screamed. She slapped his face gently. Callen's bright blue eyes opened. His face was all bloody and his breathing was labored. "Max. Call Hetty. Tell her what's happened. Get Jack, Eric, and Deeks down here." Kensi ordered. "Uh... no can do on the last part. Jack and Deeks are passed out in his apartment. Plus, Callen and I drew on their faces. Eric, however, is-" Tim started "Acting delusional and watching reality TV?" Kensi asked, trying to keep her partner awake. "Yep." Tim said, finding Hetty's number in his cell.

"Hetty?... It's Max... Uh huh... It's Callen... Car accident... Nope... Nothing serious. Kensi's trying to wake him up... He's been in worse situations, Hetty... Full recovery is expected... Defiantly not planned. All the survivors are here... Three cars... I can't... They're all drunk... Yeah, Kensi's here... I'm calling him next... Alright, I'll let you know where he's transferred... Uh huh... Good bye." Tim said, concluding his conversation. "Hetty said to let her know what hospital they're gonna take him to when we find out. I'm going back to Deeks' place to get my stuff and leave another note for them. I'll be back in a few," Tim said, jogging off the scene.

Kensi tapped Callen's face again. "Come on Blake. Stay with me. Don't fall asleep." She kept saying. "K- Ken- Kensi?" he slowly asked. "Yeah, It's me. How are you feeling?" she asked, looking at the injuries he'd sustained. Nothing too serious, just a long gash down his right arm. Probably from glass. She also figured he had one or more broken ribs, judging by the way his breathing was labored. "W- what h- happened?" he spoke again as Kensi cleaned his face up. Another shirt, ruined. Oh well.

"You were in a car accident." Kensi replied. "Was i- it really an a- accident?" he asked, trying to sit up. "Yes. For once, it was." Kensi said as she pushed him back down in the stretcher. "Is e- everyone else ok?" Callen inquired. Kensi looked around. No. Everyone was not ok. There was a young woman who was also on a stretcher. She looked to be ok. Another young man, about Callen's age, was sitting on the bumper of an ambulance, getting a wound on his head patched up. But the other person had already gone off to the hospital. Tim said that he looked seriously injured. So, what did she tell Callen? It wasn't right to lie to him, but she didn't want to trouble him.

"No. Someone was rushed to the hospital, the other two aren't even as bad as you." Kensi answered. "How bad am I?" he wondered as a medic came over with some bandages. "I'll tell you later." Kensi said, and let the paramedic take over. Tim ran up to her. "Sam was speeding to get here, I think he'll be here in less than ten minuets. Eric is in the car. He's presentable enough. It's LA, after all." Tim tried to lighten the mood a bit, but that was normally Tony's specialty. "Yeah, you're right about that." Kensi said. "I'll go get him." Tim said, jogging off to the company car.

He opened the door. "Come on, Eric, time to get out." Tim said, pulling him out. "O- ok. Where are we going?" Eric said before he saw what was going on around them. "Oh my God. What the hell happened here?" he said, sobering up more than a bit. "Callen got in a car accident. He'll be ok." Tim said, supporting Eric as they walked over to where Kensi stood in the middle of the street. "Did you have a fun time, Eric?" Kensi asked with a smile as he staggered towards her. "Yeah. I think I watched Keeping Up With The Kardashians for a while. Don't remember much else." he said, wiping his glasses off with the sleeve of his plaid jacket. "I think that's a good thing, Eric." Tim said, clapping his fellow agent on the back. "Thanks." Eric said, surveying the damage done.

Then someone pulled up in a jet black car. "And that would be Sam." Kensi said, looking back at the man, who ran over to Callen. After a minuet, Sam walked up to the rag tag group of agents. "What happened?" he asked. "He dropped me off at the hotel, then ten minuets later, the paramedics called me and told me to get down here ASAP. So then I drove down and when I saw it was Callen, I called Kensi, then Hetty, then I went back to get Eric and then I called you and now we're here." Tim said, gasping for air at the end of his statement.

"Um, ma'am?" The paramedic said, tapping her shoulder. "Yes?" she said, spinning around to face him. "Mr. Lumsfeld is ready to be transported to the hospital. Would you like to come with him?" "Oh, yeah. Sure." She and Tim walked over to the ambulance and started to climb in after him. Sam walked over a little bit slower, supporting Eric as they went. Tim was stopped. "Sir, I can't permit you to ride with him unless-" the paramedic started. "I'm his cousin." Tim stated and got in with him. The medic closed the door and got in the passenger side. "Cousin?" Callen said weakly. "Yeah. It works every time." Tim said, putting his hand on G's shoulder. The sirens blared as the five agents rode along in the back of the ambulance on the way to the hospital.

Every bump hurt Callen. "God. It hurts so bad. Make it go away." he groaned after one speed bump they took to fast. "You weren't complaining like this when you got shot." Sam said, trying to keep him awake. "I was unconscious and dying!" Callen weakly defended himself. "Yeah, well I liked you better then. Less noise." Sam said, fist bumping his hurting friend. "My leg is on fire!" Callen said once again after they sped around a corner. 'It's probably broken.' thought Kensi. She hated seeing him like this. Hurting. She'd had enough of Callen getting hurt.

"It's ok, Callen. You're gonna be ok." Tim said. Kensi held his hand and smiled encouragingly at him when ever he looked at her. Tim called Hetty back and informed her of what hospital they were headed to. Eric just sat there with head on the side of the car, waiting for the noise to stop. "What about Deeks and uh... Jack?" Sam said, looking at Tim. "They're passed out in Deeks' apartment." Kensi responded before Tim even opened his mouth. Sam shrugged his shoulders and said, "Figures."

Less than ten minuets after that, they arrived at the hospital, where Callen was rushed off to a room. Hetty and Nell met them at the front door. "They said he'll be in room 462." Kensi said, looking at her superior. She couldn't really think of Hetty as her boss; superior was a better fitting word. "This is a major set back in the case." Hetty quietly stated. McGee nodded. "I think I'm gonna check on Deeks and Jack. It's not really the best time for two agents to be alone passed out in an apartment." he said, grabbing his bloody jacket off of the waiting room chair. "Keep me posted." he said as he walked out.

Tim exited the hospital and pulled his phone out. Well, he pulled Max's phone out. He dialed a number he knew by heart. It rang and he thought for a second, Gibbs wouldn't pick up. "Yeah, Gibbs." The familiar voice on the other line said. "Agent Gibbs? This is Max Todd." Tim said, not wanting anybody who might be spying or tapped in to know who he was. "Max. What a surprise. What can I do for you?" Gibbs said, probably smiling in his basement. "I hope it's not too early to be talking." Tim said, realizing the time difference between them. It was almost five am back home. "Nope, you're fine. What's up?" Gibbs replied, checking his watch.

"You know our friend uh Blake Lumsfeld?" Tim asked as he got into his car. He hoped Gibbs knew Callen's alias. "Yeah." Gibbs slowly said. 'What was going on?' he thought, worried for his friend. "He was in a car accident. He'll be fine, but I just thought you might like to know." Tim said, starting to drive. He put the cell phone on speaker. "What?" Gibbs yelled, grabbing his badge and gun. Might as well get to work early now.

"He's at the hospital. He only broke a leg and maybe a few ribs. He also sustained some minor cuts and bruises. Point is, he's been in worse situations." Tim reassured his boss. "Ah, Blake. Always getting hurt. Why are you up so late, Max?" Gibbs asked. "Oh um Deeks took Jack and I out and we partied at his place with Blake, Eric, and uh Sam." Tim said hesitantly. "You have fun, Todd?" Gibbs growled. The weren't in Los Angles to party. Tim decided to ignore the sarcasm that was evident in his boss' voice. "Yeah, it was fun. Jack and Deeks are passed out on the floor, I'm heading over to check on them now." Tim said, sighing. "Gibbs, do you think this line is tapped?" Tim asked. It was too weird to call Gibbs... well, Gibbs. "No, I really don't think so, McGee." Gibbs said almost sarcastically.

"Boss, I- I'm really worried. About my mom and dad and- and Sarah." Tim said, pulling up to where the accident was. It was almost all cleared up, but there was an NCIS team out there sketching and taking photographs and such. So much for Blake Lumsfeld. Tim didn't recognize any of the agents. "Tim, they'll be fine." Gibbs said, reassuring his youngest agent.

"I don't believe that, Gibbs. When you brief them, what comes next? Do they get to talk to me? My dad will probably punch Vance in the face, Sarah will just start yelling at everyone and my mom will cry her eyes out. Again." Tim concluded, arguing with his boss. "I don't want to hurt them, boss. I- I can't do that to them. What if they never trust me again? Huh? What if they don't forgive me? And for what?" he said, almost yelling as he climbed the stairs to Deeks' tenth floor apartment.

"For your country, Tim! If we don't stop these guys, people will die! The US has been targeted by terrorists, and right now, we are in the best position to stop it! How would that make you feel? To know that you stopped the next nine eleven! That's what I want to know! That you save thousands if not millions of lives! If we tell your parents that, then they will understand. Your father was an Admiral, surely he will understand sacrificing for your country. He was barely in your life, Tim! He knows how you feel. I know how you feel." Gibbs said, heating up. He was in the elevator on his way up to the half empty bullpen.

"You really think that they'll forgive me for letting them think they were never going to see me again?" Tim asked, unlocking Deeks' door and stepping in. The two men hadn't moved an inch. They still had the marker on their faces, too. Tim smiled. "If they really love you and this country, then, yes, I think they will make room in their hearts to forgive you, Tim. Because that's what family does." Gibbs said, greeting Ziva with a coffee. He sat down at his desk and Ziva looked over at him.

'Who is he talking to?' she wondered. The director would not assign them a case, since they were already on one, so who Gibbs be talking to? It's not like he is known for making social calls. "Ok, boss. Thanks." Tim said, hanging up. He felt much better now. So, he set off to try and wake the guys up. At two in the morning, they shouldn't be up, but this was a special circumstance. Tim got a towel and put it in icy cold water. He place the freezing rag on Deeks' forehead. When that didn't work, Tim quickly took pictures on his iPhone and sent them to Abby. Then he washed the marker off their faces and took the bucket of water and dumped half of it on Tony and half on Deeks. They shot up and started screaming.

"Ahhh! W- What the hell was that for, Mc-" Tony screamed before Tim clasped his partner's mouth shut. "I'm Max, remember?" Tim said, calming Tony down. Tony nodded and Tim released his mouth. "But seriously, what the hell was that for?" Deeks said, staggering over, to the men. "Callen was in a car accident. You guys need to get freshened up and looking presentable. We're going into work."

**No cliffhanger for the next update... I didn't want to be horribly mean. What do you think so far? Yes? No? Let me know! I love reviews!**


	8. Follow Up

**Next chapter! It took me a little longer to write, I'm really really sorry about the week long wait. But this is another slightly long chapter, so that's probably why. I'm not really sure where this is going, but I do have all of the next chapter written so there won't be another big gap between updates. Thanks to everyone who's reading!~ Owl**

Kensi, Sam, Hetty, Eric and Nell sat in Callen's hospital room. Sam hated seeing G in a hospital bed. He was sedated, but he looked horrible. The doctor came in and startled everyone. Eric fell out of his chair it scared him so much. "Um hello. I'm Dr. Walsh." The man said, looking at Eric funny. He got up and sat back down. "Sorry..." he trailed off and put his heads back in his hands. "Anyway, Mr. Lumsfeld is sedated for now as you can see." he said, stepping into the room and looking at a clipboard by Callen's head. "He has two broken ribs and a broken leg." the doctor told the worried agents.

"How bad is it?" Sam asked. "Um... Here. Mr. Lumsfeld fractured his tibia. It's not too bad." Dr. Walsh showed them a picture of the X-Ray on his laptop. Sam nodded and looked at the sleeping G Callen. The green line wasn't normal, it was spiking up and dipping down because of his ribs, no doubt. Doctor George Walsh was also eying the monitor. Blake Lumsfeld would heal up just fine, but it might take time. The group of people in his room was more than rag tag. His federal agent girlfriend, then there was the drunk guy who somehow was let in the ambulance, his next of kin, and a man who claimed to be his roommate. Not to mention his shaken cousin who left earlier. "Well, I'm going to have to ask you and you to leave because you aren't related." He said, pointing to Sam and Eric. "Ok. I understand. Come on, man. Let's get the apartment cleaned up, ok?" Sam grabbed Eric and walked out. He gestured for Nell to follow as they left the hospital and headed to the office. Nell was worried, but they wouldn't tell her anything at the front desk because she wasn't related.

She almost considered lying and telling them she was his niece or something. But Nell had enough of lying. She was tired of lying to her friends and family, but she really liked her job. And her job involved lying to everyone she ever knew. Eric buckled himself in and Sam sped off. Nell sat in the front and watched the city fly by as Sam drove the agents to work at two thirty in the morning. When they got there, there were three people in the office. One of them was Renco, who opened the door for them and asked what was going on. "Callen got into a car accident." Eric said as he jogged up the stairs to OPS. It was the first reasonable statement that Sam had heard the man say in almost an hour.

"What? Wait, what did you just say?" Renco said, running up after the guys. Nell had quietly disappeared and for once, Sam wasn't really curious as to where she'd run off to. Eric sat down in the most comfortable chair he'd ever found and turned his computer on. Just then, Tim, Deeks, and Tony staggered into OPS. The latter was laughing like a maniac and Deeks looked like he was about to pass out. Tim just grabbed them both before they fell down on the floor and said with effort, "Uh Sam? A little help here?" Sam walked over and stood Tony upright and led him to the table where he sat him down on the floor. Deeks leaned up against the table and slowly slid down to the floor where he sat next to Tony. Eric put something up on the screen and turned the lights down a bit. "This is a feed from a security camera at the convenience store on the corner." he said as he played the video. It showed a black car waiting at a stop light along with a tan one behind it.

"G's car." Sam observed. "Yep." Tim agreed. The light turned green and the agents watched as they saw the cars crash into each other. A green car slammed into the passenger side. "Oh my God. I was sitting there like ten minuets before." Tim said, shocked. He would be dead if he was still in the car with Callen. Then the tan car behind him had obviously reacted too quickly and probably floored the pedal in his car and sped straight into the backseat. "Was that the guy who was rushed to the hospital?" Sam asked as Eric started to type. He pulled up the driver's ID's and Tim started to look at them. "This is the driver of the tan car..." he said as they came up on the plasma. "and this guy owns the green car." Eric concluded. He was well and sober at this point, but still extremely tired. He fished a five hour energy out of his desk area and took it. He really needed it. "The young guy was with a date. Last I saw, they were both ok considering what had happened. The driver of the tan car was stabilized, put on a stretcher, and rushed off to the hospital. He didn't look so good." Tim remembered.

"What are we doing?" Came a voice close to the ground. Sam and Tim had forgotten all about Deeks and Tony who were leaning up against the bottom of the table with their legs crossed. "Oh hey guys. I forgot about you two for a second." Sam chuckled. "Thanks. I feel so loved." Tony said. He normally got over alcohol fairly quick, so Tim wasn't surprised when he shakily stood up by himself. Eric was the only one to notice when Nell quietly slipped in and took a seat next to him. The phone rang and Eric picked it up and put it on speaker. "It's Kensi." he said. "Hey, Eric." Kensi said. "Hey Kensi. You're on speaker in OPS." Eric answered. "Ok. So um Callen's stable. He's doing ok and Hetty is going to come back. She wanted to know if you wanted to stay with him, Sam." Kensi asked. Tim looked at him. "Yeah, I'm on my way there. See you in ten." he said, walking out of the room. Deeks started to snore. "What is that?" Kensi asked, confused. "Oh it's um Deeks. He- he's sleeping." Eric responded. "Of course. Ok Hetty and I are on our way back. See you when we get there." Kensi said. "See ya." Tim responded as Eric hung up. With Sam gone, Deeks sleeping, and Nell out of OPS again, Tim and Eric were alone with the semi-alert Tony.

"So." Eric said, sighing. "So." Tim said. "How's DC?" Eric asked. "Good. Real good." came the awkward response. 'What do I say?' Eric thought. He pulled up Tim's file on his computer to see if there was something there to talk about. "You got arrested in 2009?" Eric exclaimed. Tim looked over. "I though Vance expunged that!" He freaked out and ran over. Sure enough, right underneath 'Was a part of the informational mission to stop Saleem Oman in Somalia in 2009, brought back hostage Ziva David.' was 'Arrested by DC Police Department for breaking into an impound yard in 2009.' "You call him Vance?" Eric said, surprised. "Yeah. The whole team does. He's got a couple nicknames, actually. Tony called him The Toothpick the first year he was director. We call him Vance when he's not around. Gibbs calls him Leon." Tim said, reading the rest of his file.

"Listen, about the whole Abby thing..." Tim said, wanting to get it over with. He knew they were both thinking about it. "It's cool. I get it." Eric cut him off. "I realized that it wouldn't work and I'm cool with it now. You two should work it out though. I think she really likes you." he continued, looking Tim in the eye. From what both Kate and Ziva had taught him, Eric's body language suggested that he wasn't lying or kidding around. It appeared to be a legitimate apology. "T- thanks, Eric. That means a lot. Sorry about the whole fight. That was-" Tim said, admiring his change of heart. "Yeah, I agree. Sorry I called you a dirty rotten show off know it all." Eric apologized. "Sorry I called you a cheating lying braggart who pretends you're smart. And a jerk," Tim said, silently cursing himself for breaking Rule 6. "Friends? Geeks like us gotta stick together." Tim stuck his hand out and smiled. Tony watched as the two geeks shook hands and bro hugged. The turned to the computers and Tony though he heard Eric say, "Friends."

Ziva sat at her desk, researching weapons that Liberdad Nueva and The Conquistadors supposedly had. She looked up when the elevator dinged. It was the McGee's. Sarah stepped out and walked over to Tim's desk and sat down. She opened all the drawers as her mother came over with a box and set it down on his desk. The Admiral walked up to Vance's office, disregarding the stares. It was, after all, quarter till six in the morning. Sarah and Emma silently began going through Tim's things. Gibbs walked over and helped.

He gave them some pictures of Tim with the members of the team. Most of them were either with Abby or Tony. Ziva pulled up the photos she had on her computer. Many of hers were taken with Abby, but she did have a few with herself, Tony, and McGee. She smiled at the happy memories. Ziva really missed them, even if they weren't actually dead. She enlarged one of the three of them on a team camping trip that was arranged by Abby. That was a very fond memory that had, for some reason, been shoved into the back of her mind. So Ziva decided to make it her desktop. She exited all her windows and was pleased to see that the trick McGee had taught her worked. Then she went back to studying the email. Many of the weapons on the inventory list McGee had sent her she knew a great deal about.

But there were some she had never even heard of. Which was bad. Very bad. Ziva had been given written exams on weapons when she was apart of Mossad. She could identify almost any explosive, firearm, military aircraft, or heavy duty assault weapon, just to name a few. But some of these pictures and names are ones she had never seen or heard of before. So, she tasked herself with assessing the amount of damage all of this could do, as well as finding out everything she could about the ones she did not know about. Gibbs sat with the McGee's as they cleaned out Tim's stuff. He told them of all the heroic things he'd done, how he was always so brave when something bad happened, and how everybody loved him and hated that he was gone.

Ziva could hear Emma's soft crying as Gibbs hugged her and told her it was all going to work out. She decided to call Tony. "Helooo, thiss Jack Shepherd." She smiled at the sound of Tony's voice, which indicated he was very very drunk. "Jack? Could you please hand the phone to Max?" Tony recognized the voice and did as he was told without a sound. "Hello?" McGee said into the phone. "Mr. Todd?" Ziva politely asked. "Oh hey, Ziva. What's up?" he asked, understanding who he was talking to. "I need to talk to you. About the email you sent me."

"Ok sure. I picked most of the intel up via chatter, which is really getting interesting. Listen to this- 'NCIS is vulnerable. Two of their best agents were killed by a Conquistador team. If you want to do this, now would be as good a time as any.' It was sent to Colombia about four hours ago from Mexico. From what we've been able to figure out, Ponce is hiding in Colombia, and he hasn't been completely out of contact with the outside world. He's got an informant that only speaks on his command. And Liberdad Nueva has a scouting team stationed in Mexico. They're looking at potential targets. This is getting serious." Tim said, worried.

"When I worked for the Mossad, I remember going to scout months before a mission was set to take place. If they want to do this right, they will take their time." Ziva said, remembering details from her past. "Yeah, well I hope you're right. Because I just can't stand being dead. I have to at least talk to my mom and dad and sarah. It's killing me." Tim spoke softly into the phone. "No pun intended." he quickly added once he realized what he'd said. "Your mother and Sarah are cleaning out your desk and I believe your father is currently talking with Vance." Ziva said, leaving the squadroom so no one would hear.

"Oh God. I need this to be over. I can't take it, Ziva. I- I can't take it anymore." Tim said, leaning up against the table in OPS. Eric was running a print through interpol, as well as a photo of a suspected Conquistador member. He watched as the fingerprints and photos whizzed by, none of them being matches. Deeks was still sleeping on the floor, Nell was quietly typing on her computer, Tony was messing with the paint application Eric had pulled up on one of the touch screens, Kensi was absentmindedly twirling her hair around her finger, and Hetty was looking over Nell's shoulder. Eric was slowly drifting off to sleep. Tim turned his attention back to Ziva. "It is hard, McGee, but think about all the lives you will save." Ziva said quietly yet firmly.

"That's the same thing Gibbs told me." Tim said with a chuckle. "What do you want to know about the weapons?" He spoke again. "Some of them I have never seen nor heard of before." She responded. "Email me which ones, I'll get back to you ASAP. I gotta go. Briefing." Tim sounded rushed. "At three am?" Now Ziva was the one laughing. "Yeah. It's crazy down here. You should come down and visit them sometime, I think you would like Kensi. Listen, Zi. I really gotta go. See you later. Keep me posted." Tim said, hanging up the phone.

He watched as Hetty violently shook Deeks awake and he slowly came out of his slumber. Nell woke up Eric up and he shut the drawing application down, causing Tony to complain. "Aww, come on. I was in the middle of drawing a great bear!" he said as Tim dragged him over to the plasma. "Sam is supposed to call any minuet." Kensi said, starting the briefing.

"Good. Everyone get some sleep. You've earned your pay today. Mr. DiNozzo, Mr. McGee, there are couches in the bullpen downstairs." Hetty responded. Everyone was shocked. They all thought they were going to have to talk for at least ten minuets, but now they were being told they could lay down and sleep. "Wow. Um... Th-" Kensi started, only to be cut off by Hetty again. "Don't thank me. There is no way anybody is going to be doing many productive things for a few hours."

Tony and Tim walked down to the bull pen, which was very different from their own. "I like the blinding orange better." Tony quietly commented as he gathered a blanket and wrapped himself up in it. He was homesick. Tony didn't know why, but he really missed that burnt color of the office building. And the bright blue walls of Abby's lab, and the smell of the conference room, which smelled like vanilla for some reason. Tony really missed Ziva and Gibbs and Abby and Ducky and Jimmy. But sleep would take all that off his mind, so that's what he decided to do.

**No cliffhanger! Unless you think its possible for Tony to die in his sleep... Anyway, the next chapter brings up an often written about subject... I'll leave you to speculate what that could be. Review what you think! Or just regularly review, either is fine :) I love to hear what you think so far!**


	9. Into The Night

**Finally, the next chapter! sorry for the horribly long wait... computer troubles have really been a problem lately. It's kind of short, so I guess it's just a little filler chapter... Enjoy!**

Instead of curling up and sleeping like Tony did, Tim, however, grabbed his laptop and opened up the weapons inquiry Ziva had sent him to see if he could answer her question. Now he knew why she didn't learn about them at Mossad. They were home made weapons frequented by terrorists. He quickly replied to his partner, giving her a bit of background on each of them and telling her how it was going in Los Angeles. "Perfect." Tim murmured as he pulled up the gaming application he had created for himself on the plane ride down. "Looks fun. I've never seen that game. And believe me, I've watched Eric go through hundreds of games in OPS." The voice from behind him startled him. He whipped his head back to see that is was Kensi who was standing over his chair. "Oh, yeah. I- I created it on the uh way down here." Tim blushed as he revealed the origin of the game. He exited the window, only to blush even further when the word document containing his book was right there.

"Woah, what's that?" Kensi said enthusiastically. "Oh its nothing." Tim said as he quickly tried to navigate away from it. Lucky for Kensi, she caught his arm before he could close out and began to read. "This is a book!" Kensi exclaimed, gently lifting the laptop off of his legs and setting it on her own. "This is a really good book." Kensi said after a few minuets of silence. "Yeah well you should really read the first three before that one." Tim let slip. He immediately blushed and put his head in his hands. 'This is the third book you've written?" Kensi said, shocked. Tim decided to give up. "I'm a famous writer. I write mysteries." he confessed. "Wow. That's... cool. What books have you written?" Kensi replied, not really knowing what to say. "I'm the writer of Deep Six." Tim sighed. He'd seen the book on Eric's desk, but he'd kept quiet, for obvious reasons.

"Deep Six? Are you serious? I love those! I got Eric and Callen to r- Callen! I totally forgot about Callen!" She said, mad at herself. She grabbed her phone off the table and called Sam. "Hey, Kenz. You want an update?" Sam replied when he picked up the phone. "Yeah, an update would be nice." She replied. "What is he saying?" Tim whispered, also wanting to know how his fellow agent was doing. "He's still sleeping, but they've got a cast on his leg now. Actually, it's a boot. It wasn't a really bad break, so he'll be able to walk on it after a week on crutches." Sam told his teammate. She then relayed the information back to Tim, who relaxed in his seat. "Well, that's good news." he said as he sat back.

"Hey Sam, remember those books called Deep Six?" Kensi said, looking at a now distraught Tim and smiling evilly. "Yeah? Did you find out when the next one comes out?" Sam replied, not sure how that was relevant to anything going on at the moment, but still interested in what she had to say. "I met the writer. He signed all of my books, and I got him to sign yours and Eric's and Callen's too. He's really nice." Kensi said, lying her way into a signature from Tim. 'Well at least she said I was nice. If that would have been Tony, he would have said something crazy or mean.' Tim thought as he found a pen and started to sign Kensi's copies of the books. He looked up as she set down three other stacks of books on the table next to him. Tim sighed and continued signing. "Really? Who is he?" Sam asked, a little excited. He remembered a day when they had all been reading the books. The third one had just come out. Flashback.

Kensi sat, book in one hand, breakfast burrito in the other, reading the third installment in the page turner series. She was gasping every other page it seemed. Sam had the book in front of him, as well as Callen. Anyone who would have walked into the bullpen at the time would have seen three people, their noses buried in the same blue book. Eric slowly walked down the stairs, reading the same book. "Hey... guys we have a case." he said, making sure he didn't lose his place on the page. "Wait! Let me finish this page!" Kensi exclaimed, her eyes flying across the page. Sam and Callen immediately put their books down, carefully marking their place in the almost six hundred page book. It took Kensi another five minuets, because she ended up finishing he chapter. Flash-forward.

Sam heard a low moan, which brought him out of the past. "What was that?" Kensi asked, her ears picking up the sound. Tim perked up when he heard the tone she used. "Callen's awake. Call you later." Sam said, hanging up. "Hey, bud. How are you doing?" Sam asked quietly. 'It... It feels really bad. I- it's hard t- to breathe." he said, rolling his head side to side. Sam grabbed his head and looked his partner in the eye. "I know, G. I really do. But you're gonna be ok." "Wh- what about the others? Is everyone else ok?" Callen asked. Of course. He didn't care about himself, just the welfare of the other people involved. Classic Callen.' thought Sam. He himself hadn't thought to ask. "I don't know, G. Eric hasn't called. " Sam said, only partially telling the truth. 'You- you're lying. You didn't check yet and you're trying to blame it on Eric. I know you, Sam. It- its fine if you d- didn't check yet. I jus- just wanted to know." Callen responded. It must have took a lot out of the guy, because after that, he buried his face in the mountain of pillows surrounding him and fell fast asleep. Sam quickly pulled his phone out. "Eric?... Yeah, it's Sam... Were you sleeping?... Wait, Hetty let you sleep? Something must be going on... Well, sorry for waking you up... Can you do something for me?"

Abby was a mess. She hadn't talked to he boys in almost five days. They were in Los Angeles, hanging out with Callen. And she was forbidden by the director himself from speaking with them until they landed in DC in who knows how long. And now she had to plan a funeral for her boys. She hadn't left her lab in quiet sometime, so it startled her when she felt some arms wrap around her. "You have quiet the collection, Abby." the ever charming Anthony Dinozzo Senior said, looking around her walls. Abby had decorated then with pictures of the team, wether they were taken on a fun night out, or accidentally snapped during an investigation, Abby's walls were covered with the faces of her family members. "Yeah, I guess I do." Abby said, sniffling. She looked at Senior, who was smiling. "How have you been holing up?" she asked him, letting go of the grieving father.

"You know what the song says, right?" he said, slowly making his way around the room, looking at all the pictures. He got to the part where Tony was making various funny faces and chuckled a little. Abby felt very sorry for him, but she wanted to catch the bad guys too. "What song?" Abby asked, keeping the conversation afloat. "The one by Billy Joel I believe. Only the good die young." Senior said, taking a picture of Tony and McGee with their arms on each other's shoulders at a bar off the wall. "Tony was a good guy. He was lovable, kind, funny... And Tim was... everything I ever wanted. A smart, compassionate, caring, sweet guy. Oh, I miss them so so much. They were what made coming to work fun. T- Tony was completely unpredictable but he was one of the best agents NCIS had. And Tim was one of the smartest! And now I have to go on alone in the world. I still have Gibbs and Ziva and Ducky and Jimmy, but none of this..." she said, breaking down in Senior's arms.

"And now they're gone, and I... I can't handle it! Not now. Tony died saving Timmy! But they both didn't have to... T- they left me here, to look at all of these pictures and cry. I knew Tony for almost twelve years! Ever since Gibbs came down to this very lab after a case with Pachi and introduced us! And McGee... I dated him for almost a year! We... we got really close. And I knew him for a decade! This team has been through so much... I- I just don't know w- what I'm gonna do without them!" she continued to cry for her friends. Abby hated speaking to them in the past tense. It felt too wrong... like she was digging up information on dead petty officers or something. "I know how you feel, Abby." Senior's comforting words calmed her down a bit and she walked over to her chair. Senior followed and almost sat in the chair opposite her. "No!" Abby exclaimed before Mr. DiNozzo was seated. He immediately stopped and asked what was wrong.

"It- It's just- I- Tim always sat there. Nobody else was ever allowed to sit there, and I- I'm sorry. Can I sit there?" Abby said apologetically getting up. Senior only smiled and sat in the other chair. "I was like that for quite some time after my first wife, Junior's real mother, died. I wouldn't let anyone touch our room. Junior snuggled in the sheets for days after, trying to understand why she wasn't there with him. He was the bravest little boy I'd ever seen. And he grew up to be an amazing man." Anthony spoke affectionately of his son. Abby would have to tell that to Tony when he got back. Abby was ready for all of this to be ver, but it seemed like it would never end. But, in order to cheer both herself and Tony's father up, she decided to tell a story, one that ended very happily, just like she hoped this one would. "Did Tony ever tell you about the time he won the NCIS field day events?"

**Sorry for the really short chapter, but I think the action might be heating up in the next few chapters... bear with me, readers. Thank you to everyone who reads, favorites, follows and reviews especially! Every time I see someone has reviewed or followed, it really makes my day. Thanks for your continuing support~ Owl**


	10. Multiple Threat Assessment

**Ok... I'm really truly sorry about making you guys wait for like three weeks. Life has been... chaotic to say the least. I'm also sorry that this chapter is really short, but I really wanted to get something posted, and this is what came to mind. And I have started the next chapter already so hopefully I can get that finished in a few days. I also finally have a good idea as to where the story is going, so things will be heating up pretty soon. Enjoy!**

Jimmy decided not to go upstairs. He decided not to show his face to anyone besides Dr. Mallard, who was also mostly staying in autopsy. Breena was at home with a fever, and he wasn't allowed to go home to take care of her. Dr. Mallard had been up to the squadroom a few times that day, but he had encountered death many times. He knew exactly how it felt when someone close to you passed away.

Jimmy, however, knew he couldn't handle seeing Tim and Tony's parents like- however they were. But he had seen his mother's face when his dad died, and Jimmy didn't think he wanted to go through that again. So there he sat on a slab. Jimmy had half the mind to call Breena again until he realized that it had only been five minuets since he called her last. He was really worried about her. Breena almost never gets sick. The doors opened and Jimmy looked up. It was Agent Gibbs.

"Uh- A- Agent Gibbs! Dr. Mallard is- isn't um... he-" Jimmy started, only to be cut off by the man. "I know Palmer. I came here to talk to you." Jimmy looked at the man with the second most astonished look he'd ever gotten on his face. The first was when Breena said yes. "M- me? Ok, um what c- can I do for you?" Jimmy asked, unsure that he could do anything for the man. 'It's Gibbs.' he thought. 'Why would Gibbs need anything at all from the autopsy gremlin?' "How's Breena?" Gibbs asked. Jimmy mentally sighed in relief. He wasn't much of a conversationalist, but when it came to things he knew about, he could talk all day. Plus, talking about Breena might put Jimmy's mind at ease.

"She's ok. But the director won't let me go home to see her." Jimmy pouted. "Why do you want to go home?" Gibbs said. Jimmy couldn't believe that he was having a conversation with Gibbs. there must be an ulterior motive behind it. Nonetheless, he told him why. "Well she woke up a few hours ago and told me she had a fever and was throwing up. I wanted to go home to take care of her, but Vance won't let me go until five." Jimmy said as he twisted the wedding band around his finger.

He chuckled and looked up at Gibbs. "Do you know why we wear wedding rings on the finger we do?" he asked. Gibbs shook his head. "I have no idea. And I've been married four times." Now it was Gibbs' turn to smile. "It's because that finger is the only one that has a vein that leads directly to your heart." Jimmy said.

"You know what, Palmer? I think you've been here too long. You're starting to remind me of Ducky." Gibbs replied. "I'm going to take that as a compliment." Jimmy said. Gibbs sat down on the slab next to him. "What do you make of all of this?" he asked. "What do you mean by that?" Jimmy responded, confused as to what exactly Gibbs was talking about. "Everything that's going on right now. DiNozzo and McGee being dead. Terrorists. What are your thoughts on it all?" Gibbs answered his question, clearing a few things up.

"Oh. Well... I think that Tony and Tim... made a great sacrifice to their families to catch these terrorists. And I admire that because... I'm not sure I could ever tell Breena and my mom and my brother that I was dead and be lying." Palmer concluded, slowly verbalizing what he thought of his friends. "Good summary." Gibbs said. "I'm not even sure how everyone would take it." Jimmy said.

"You have a brother?" Gibbs asked when he realized what Jimmy said. He didn't know that Palmer had any family. "Yeah. Matt. He lives in Annapolis with his wife and two kids." Jimmy said. "Hmm... Older or younger?" "Older. He's been teasing me about getting married for the longest time. Then, when Breena and I finally got married, he called me in a week and asked me if Breena was pregnant yet. He's- he's kinda like Tony in some ways." Jimmy said, speaking highly of his brother. "Sounds like you two are close." Gibbs observed. Jimmy nodded in agreement. "We're really close. We almost never fought growing up. He's been really great to me."

They sat in silence for a few minuets. Gibbs opened his mouth to speak again, but he was cut off by Jimmy's cell phone. Gibbs sat patiently as he answered the phone. "I am so sorry, Agent Gibbs. This is Breena. I- I should probably take this." Jimmy apologized before he picked up. "Fine with me, Palmer." Gibbs responded as the man next to him fumbled to find his phone in his pocket.

"Hey Bree! How are you feeling?... Why? What's wrong?... Well then why do I need to come home?... What! Breena! That- that's wonderful!... I wish I could, but Director Vance has ordered me to stay here. Oh Breena. This- this is amazing! I- I can't believe it!... I have to go, sweetie. Can I tell everyone?... Great! I'll be home as soon as I can, ok? Maybe the director will let me go. I love you... Oh, right... Ok. Bye." Jimmy set the phone on the table and looked at Gibbs. "What was that all about?" he asked, curious as to what made the man so happy.

"Breena had a hunch and... And I'm going to be a father! Breena's pregnant!" Jimmy said, the biggest grin on his face. Gibbs smiled and clapped him on the back. "Wow, Jimmy! That's great! Congratulations!" he said. Gibbs remembered when Shannon told him he was going to be a daddy. Jimmy jumped up. "I- I gotta go tell Abby! And Ziva! And- Oh, Dr. Mallard! I just got the best news!" Jimmy said when the man came into autopsy.

"What? Oh hello, Jethro!" Ducky said, overwhelmed by the situation. "I'm gonna be a father! Breena just called me!" Jimmy exclaimed. "Well, that's wonderful! Congratulations my boy!" Ducky smiled at the ecstatic man. Then Jimmy's happy smile turned into and expression that clearly read 'I'm doomed.' "Is something wrong, Palmer?" Gibbs asked when he saw the expression Jimmy was sporting. He knew the look well.

"No, It's just- I realized something." he said as he looked up from the floor. "What's that, Mr. Palmer?" Ducky inquired. "I have no clue how to take care of a baby." he said, full realization kicking in. Gibbs and Ducky just looked at each other and laughed. Gibbs got up from the slab and started to walk out of the cold room. He clapped Jimmy on the shoulder and spoke some words of encouragement as he left.

"You'll do fine, Palmer. Kid's gonna be lucky to have you as a dad."

Jimmy looked at Ducky after the doors shut. "Did...? W- was that a compliment?" he asked. A beaming Ducky grabbed Jimmy's hand and said, "That most certainly was." Then, and only then, did Jimmy smile.

**And now I have thrown yet another curveball at you. Getting a little hard to juggle everything, right? Anyway... Did you like it? Because if you liked it, you should let me know! Heck, let me know if you didn't like it. Because no matter what, every review makes my day. Thank you so much to every one who's been sticking around!**


	11. Heating Up

**Next Chapter! Thanks for waiting so long! I promise that the waits between chapters will lessen, I've been busy with vacations, getting ready ready for school and starting up again. **

Tim and Tony sat on the couch with Kensi on the chair across the coffee table. A figure appeared, and everybody recognized Sam, holding a tray of coffee cups. "Hey, Sam! Ooh, that coffee smells good." Kensi said, taking the one with her name on it from him and immediately sipping some. "How's Callen?" Tim asked, grabbing a cup and passing it to Tony. "Sleeping. They said they might be able to release him tomorrow." Sam answered, taking a seat across the way from Kensi. "When did you meet Mr. Gemcity?" Sam asked, wondering how she had come across him. He knew for a fact that Gemcity lived in D.C. "Well... why don't you tell him, Tim?" Kensi said, looking pointedly at her fellow agent. "Ooh, they found out your little eh-" Tony got out before Tim punched him in the arm and silenced him.

"I- I uh... I'm Thom E. Gemcity. I wrote Deep Six." Tim confessed to Sam. He really wished that people would stop finding out about this thing. It made working with them harder. "What? Well... that's pretty cool. Congratulations, man!" Sam responded to the news. "Uh, yeah, thanks I guess." Tim said, unsure of how he should answer. Just then, Hetty came down from OPS. "Morning, Hetty." Sam greeted his boss. "Mr. Hanna? I thought you would be at the hospital with Mr. Callen." she questioned her agent.

"He insisted I come home. You know him, Hetty." Sam responded to the question like he had said it before. "Yes, I thought that would be the case. How is he exactly?" Hetty asked her agent. "Good. He's starting to consider the cuts on his face battle scars. But the doctors are going to release him later today. I'm going back down there after lunch to pick him up. He'll be on crutches for a few weeks and they think he might need a boot." Sam relayed the information to his friends. "Callen's not going to be too happy with that." Kensi said, laughing.

"Well, he will have to live through it. We all know that he's been in worse shape." Hetty replied. Everyone nodded their heads in a silent agreement. All of the sudden, the group heard loud footsteps coming towards them. "You walk louder than an elephant." Kensi stated as Deeks came into the lounge area. "It's early. I'm tired. Hi Hetty." Deeks said as he plopped down on the couch. Tony scooted over to make room for the third person on the two person couch. It was a little more than cramped, but Deeks didn't care. "You look tired." Sam sarcastically observed.

"The people across the hall were fighting the whole entire night. After I went over there at three am in my police uniform and told them to shut the hell up, the guy who lives next to me turned on workout videos and his dog started barking. I didn't go to sleep until six. Then my alarm woke me up at eight. So, yeah. I'm a little tired." Deeks said, shutting his eyes and sitting back on the couch.

"Why did you go in your uniform?" Tony asked, confused. "Leverage. Every one in my building thinks I'm a joke, but they don't know I'm a cop. Well, they do now, but anyways. I put my uniform on and made my gun clearly visible and yelled at them. It was pretty funny." Deeks answered, his eyes still closed. Kensi thrust a coffee cup into his hand and he immediately sat up to drink some. "Thank you so much." he said, relishing the warm drink in his hands. Hetty clasped her hands together and spoke once again. "I want everyone in OPS in ten." she said and walked off. "Seriously? I have ten minuets to enjoy this?" Deeks complained. Tim got up and collected the empty cups and walked over tho the trash can.

"McGoo! Have you talked to Vance yet?" Tony asked. Sam and Kensi both gave him confusing and surprised looks. "What?" Tony asked, wondering why they were staring at him. "You call the director Vance?" Kensi said, astonished. "Why not? Everyone else does. Tell them, McGee!" Tony said. "It's true. When we speak to him, we call him Director, but otherwise..." Tim backed up his partner. Deeks had fallen asleep on the couch. "Does anybody have a marker?" Tony asked desperately. "Nope." Sam said, checking his pockets.

Tony's face fell. "Crap. That sucks."

Ten minuets later, the team met in OPS. Tim was on the phone with Vance, giving and receiving an update. "How's Sarah?" he asked as the important part of the conversation ended. Tony watched as his friend's face fell and he rubbed his brow. "Yes. Thank you, Director." Tim said as he hung up. "Vance is going to brief Senior and the rest sometime today." McGee informed Tony. He sighed with relief. The others were confused, but no one had the time to ask what that meant because Hetty started talking immediately. "Mr. McGee, what is our status?" she asked. "Ziva sent me what they had found so far. Eric, can you pull up my email?" Tim said. Eric obliged, and handed Tim the controls. He pulled up the files and sorted them out with ease.

"Ok, here's the leader of Libertad Nueva. And this is the most recent text message from his phone. It looks like there hasn't been any activity for years, right?" Tim said, eager to show the others what he had found. "There hasn't. The last text message was sent three years ago." Sam said, not sure what Tim was getting at. "Well, these are the texts that were exchanged three years ago." McGee said, scrolling up to reveal texts with the same dates as others. "How is that possible?" Kensi asked. "He's been tricking us. He set the date and time to three years ago on his phone and so did everyone that he talks to. The texts appear that they were sent almost three years ago, but in reality, he told someone to start up the operation only a few days ago." Tim said.

"You mean he was never underground?" Tony asked, confused. At least McGee wasn't being a McGeek. "Not exactly." Nell piped up. "He was off the grid, just not for three years. He's been running his operation for more than a year now." Eric explained. "He hired somebody to fabricate the cell logs on the providers servers as well, so there was no way anybody would have known." Nell said. "That is, until somebody slipped up." Tim stated. He put four mugshots up on the screen. "The guy on the far left is the one who so kindly led us to our biggest lead on this case." Eric said. "Thank you, Mr. Diego Garcia." Tony said.

"We have a BOLO out on him in Los Angeles as wall as Washington. The other three are the people Ponce communicated with the most in the past year. Jose Hernandez, who is Ponce's suspected right-hand man, Santiago Rivera, and Juan Pablo Martinez." Nell said. All of the sudden, McGee's phone went off. Everyone turned to look at him. "It's Ziva." Tim said in a surprised tone. "Metro PD in DC just found Diego Garcia. He's dead." He said and looked around the room. Tony sighed. "So our only known lead is dead?" Sam nodded.

"Libertad Nueva and The Conquistadors are back in business."

**So... What does this mean for the teams? What do you think about this most recent chapter, or the whole story so far? Let me know because every email I get makes my day! Thank you so much to the people that have reviewed, followed, and read this! I really appreciate it! Until next time, Owl!**


	12. Family Does Matter

**I would like to give a very special shout out to High reacher, who has reviewed the story like four times. You are awesome! So, without further ado, next chapter! I really like this one. And there's a little mini cliffhanger to! Enjoy!**

Anthony DiNozzo Sr. sat in the large conference room at NCIS with Abby and Dr. Mallard, waiting for someone to tell him what was going on. Luckily, he hadn't left the city yet when Director Vance called him and asked him to return. He had been doing interviews over the phone and in person for the past two days. Abby looked nervous; she was fiddling with her hands. Ducky (as he had learned to call the man) on the other hand, looked very relaxed.

Ziva walked into the room, three people behind her. Anthony recognized them as McGee's family. Behind them was Gibbs, followed by Director Vance himself. They all sat down except for the director, who stood formally by the door so everyone could see him. Anthony wondered why the door was shut. Vance spoke. "I have some very important news for all of you."

Admiral Henry McGee sat in his favorite coffee shop on the Navy Yard. He had been there many times before. He frequented the shop when he was assigned to the Yard for a few months quite some time ago. The owner recognized him when he came in, even though Henry was quite sure the man was less than fifteen the last time they spoke. His wife and daughter sat across from him, both holding warm cups of coffee in their hands. No one really knew what to say, so the family was just sitting there, staring at each other.

Sarah was thinking about her brother. Her dead brother. She wondered what she was going to tell people. 'Do you have siblings?' How would she answer that? 'No.' Or, 'I used to.' Sarah McGee refused to believe that her older brother was dead. But he was. She had seen it for herself. Timothy Steven McGee was dead, and Sarah was an only child now. And that was the truth, no matter what Sarah wanted to believe.

Emma looked at her husband, who was still in his Navy uniform. She smiled at him and put her hand on top of his. She knew this wasn't easy for any of them, but especially for Henry. They were just starting to talk to each other again. The whole thing was just too horrible. And the other agent, what was his name? Tony, that's right. Tony was protecting his friend. It was nice to know that this team was somewhat of a family. A family that had been ripped apart by death. It saddened Emma.

"I've lost men in combat, but this is different." Henry finally spoke. "What? Of course it is, dad! Tim was your son! And my brother!" Sarah said, wondering why he would say such a thing. "I- I know, sweetie. I'm sorry. I'm trying." he said. "It's too late to start trying, dad. Tim's dead. He died knowing that his father practically hated him. I hope you're happy about that." Sarah said, getting up from the table and walking out of the cafe. Henry stood up, but Emma stopped him from leaving. "Henry, don't. Let her blow off some steam. Give her a little time." she advised. The Admiral sat down and drank more coffee.

Sarah didn't know her way around the Navy Yard, but she knew the way from the cafe to NCIS. So that's where she decided to go. It was a ten minuet walk to the building, but it took Sarah twenty. After she finally got there, she didn't know where to go. Gibbs was sitting at his desk, as was Ziva, but she didn't want to talk to them. So Sarah headed down to the one place she knew she would be welcome. Abby's lab. Once she asked someone to show her there, Sarah strolled into the room. The first thing she noticed was the music. It was really loud. Like, earsplitting loud. "Abby!" Sarah said, trying to talk over the music. "ABBY!" she finally yelled to get the scientist's attention.

Abby turned around and swiftly turned the music down to a reasonable volume. Then she ran over to Sarah and hugged her. Sarah smiled. So this was an Abby hug. "I'm so lost, Abby. I don't know what to do." Sarah confessed, sitting on a chair. "I don't either." Abby said, wondering what to say. "I- I just miss him so much. I hadn't seen him in like three months. I don't even remember the last words I said to him." Sarah said sadly. "The last thing I said to your brother was 'Good luck.' I guess it didn't work." Abby lied.

She felt horrible about lying, which was why there was some truth to that statement. Before every raid, she always said good luck to the team. Always. The only one she missed was when she had the flu and couldn't come to work. Then Abby got a call on her cell phone from Gibbs. "Hey, Abs." he greeted her. "Vance is going to brief everyone in twenty. Security said that Sarah is in the building, is she down there with you?" he asked.

"Yeah. We'll be up in a few." Abby replied. "Conference room. See you in twenty." Gibbs said, hanging up the phone. Next he called the Admiral, who Gibbs knew was still on the Navy Yard. He was ten minuets away at The Navy Bean, debatably the best coffee place on the Yard. When he was done talking to the Admiral, Gibbs made for Vance's office. "They're on their way." he said as he entered Vance's office. "You call Dr. Mallard up?" Vance asked. Gibbs nodded. Vance sighed. "It's about time we did this, Gibbs."

Vance had called everyone up around fifteen minuets ago. They were going to be here in less than ten. Abby had brought Sarah to the squadroom and was just walking in. She sat down next to Ducky, who was the first one in there. Jimmy was in Autopsy, on the phone with Breena. He had yet to tell everyone the exciting news. Admiral McGee was the only one with a security clearance high enough to know the full details of the operations, so they wouldn't be getting into specifics. Just the basic, 'Mr. DiNozzo, Admiral McGee, Mrs. McGee, your sons are alive and well.' But Vance knew it wasn't going to be that simple. There was going to be yelling on the men's side, and questions and crying on the women's. Abby and Ducky were already sitting in the room, waiting for the families to come in.

It was going to be a tough day.

Gibbs was down in the squadroom, rounding up Ziva, Henry, Tony, Sarah, and Emma. Vance called Tony. "Director?" came the response on the other end of the line. "Agent DiNozzo. I just wanted to let you and McGee know that we are about to tell them." Vance said. "Director, if we can secure a video feed, can we speak to them?" came a response. It was McGee. Vance pondered that for a second. There was no harm that could be done, so why not? They were 2,300 miles from each other, so a reunion was the least Vance could provide the families.

"Yes, Agent McGee. If you, Nell, and Eric can arrange it, I will tell you when to call." He answered. It was obviously what both men wanted to hear because Vance hear a sigh from the pair. "Where are you two?" Vance asked. "The apartment. Hetty let us go home for a while." Tim responded. "McGee figured out that Libertad Nueva has been communicating with one another for a year now. They fooled us." Tony shared. Vance nodded his head. "Everyone's going to be here any moment. Anything else I need to know?" Vance said, listening to the muffled sounds of talking. "Is-" Tim started but stopped himself. He tried again. "Is Abby there?" he asked. "Yes. Do you want to talk to her?" Vance asked, already handing the phone to her. "Thank you, sir." he said as Abby put the phone up to her ear. "Five minuets." Vance said. "Timmy?" Abby said, eager to hear his voice again. "Abby! How are they doing?" Tim asked. Tony was eager to hear what she had to say.

"You're on speaker. It's just Tony and I." Tim added when he realized Tony walked in from the kitchen. "Well, Senior is seriously upset, Tony. When you get back, I'm going to show you what he said. And Timmy, Sarah is beyond devastated. She ran into my lab fuming about something your dad said." Abby relayed everything that had happened that day to the guys. "He said what?" Tim almost yelled when Abby told him of her conversation with Sarah. "Listen, guys. I have like less than a minuet until everyone comes in, so work on securing that feed. I gotta go." Abby said quickly. "Tell Ducky we said hey and that we miss him." Tony said before they both hung up.

Tim had already started the car when Tony hopped in the front seat and they sped off towards the office, calling Nell and Eric on their way.

**It's not a huge cliffhanger, but it still kind of leaves you hanging I guess. Anyways, the next chapter will be our happy fluffy reunion... Let me know what you thought because reviews make me so happy! (And they take my mind off the amounting pile of homework on my desk.) ~Owl**


	13. Love Knows No Bounds

**Wow. Sorry for the really long wait. Fanfiction wasn't working very well at my house, so the chapter was delayed. But i have the next few chapters written, so things should be getting back to their normal updating routine fairly soon. Enjoy!**

"What is it?" Admiral McGee asked as he took a seat next to his wife and daughter. The director was sitting at the head of the table, and opposite him sat Mr. DiNozzo, Abby, Ziva, and Ducky. Agent Gibbs was standing in the corner, his phone in his hand. The director sighed and looked at everyone sitting at the table. Abby looked down at her lap and nodded to the director. "Tony and Tim aren't dead."

The words rocked her world. She knew it, Sarah knew in her heart it couldn't be true. Then, she realized that se had thought for almost two weeks her brother was dead. This angered her. She was the first one to react.

"What? Why! Then why were we sitting here moping around for two weeks about people we had thought were gone forever? What was the purpose of this, director?" Sarah was outraged. She dialed Tim's cell phone number. It was out of service. "Why isn't he picking up?" Sarah asked. "Because he's right here." Everybody looked behind them to see two guys sitting at a computer, smiling.

"Timmy! Oh my gosh you look horrible with a buzz cut." Sarah said, noticing his bad haircut. "Same goes for you, Junior. I'm not used to you without hair." Anthony said, seeing his son. "The first time you see me after I die and all you can say is how bad my haircut is?" Tony said, a little sad. He was hoping the first words would be something a long the lines of 'I missed you!' or 'Glad to see you!'. Not 'Your haircut sucks.'.

"You have to admit, we do look pretty bad." Tim said, turning to his partner. Tony laughed a little. "Yeah. I guess so." he responded. "Hey, mom." Tim said, looking at his crying mother. She looked up at him and smiled. "I- I can't believe you're ok!" she said, wiping her eyes. The Admiral had been staring at his son since he came on the screen, waiting for him to acknowledge him. "Dad." Tim said tersely as he realized he expected Tim to say something. "Tim. It-Its nice to see your ok." Henry said, flashing a smile. Tim's eyes darted around the room, realizing it was nowhere near private. "I heard what you said to Sarah. We're going to talk about it later though." Tim said, not happy. Tony nudged Tim's shoulder and whispered something.

"Ziva? Is that you lurking in the shadows?" Tony asked, hoping he was right. She stepped forward and the guys smiled. They had both really missed Ziva. "Yes." she said, returning the grin. "We missed you, Zi. Oh, come on dad. Stop!" Tony said when he realized his dad was trying to serenade Ziva, like he did every time he saw her. Senior turned back to the screen and smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, Junior. If you won't get her, then I will." Tony scoffed and Sarah spoke again.

"Where are you guys?" she asked. "Um... We are in a... safe place." Tim responded, knowing he couldn't technically tell her where he was. "It's... national security." he tacked on to the end. But that only made Sarah madder. "What! Is this the whole reason you left? National security bull-" Sarah was cut off by her brother.

"Sarah I'm really sorry, but I... I don't know what I can tell you! Ask Director Vance if you want answers because I'm not in the position to tell you!" Tim corrected her. "First dad, then you. Who's next?" Sarah said, storming out of the room. "What did she mean by that?" Henry asked no one in particular. Tim decided to wait to yell at his dad until he got back to DC. "Hey Ducky!" Tony said, knowing that the subject needed to be changed.

"Anthony! Timothy! How are you doing?" Ducky asked, glad he was being brought into the conversation. "Pretty good." Tony answered. "Tony almost got arrested yesterday. The LAPD is vicious." Tim said, not realizing that Deeks was in the room. Emma looked at her husband when she heard the faint trace of someone yelling, "I heard that!" in the background. He shrugged and turned back to the screen. Tim and Tony glanced back and laughed. "How did that happen, DiNozzo?" Gibbs said, coming into the light. "Tell them Tony." Tim turned to his partner and grinned. "I uh... I may have been speeding." Tony said. "Ms. Lang called me about that. We will discuss that when you get back, Agent DiNozzo." Director Vance spoke. Tony gulped. "Yes sir." he replied. "Hey, Abbs. Where's Palmer?" Tim said when he looked around for him.

"Right here! Abby said to come up as soon as- Tony! McGee! Wow! I- I have really big news!" Jimmy said, talking super fast. "How many Caf-Pows have you had today?" Tony asked his friend. "Too many." Jimmy replied, taking seat next to Ducky. His hands were twitching. He'd had way to many Caf-Pows. "What's your news?" Tim asked, eager to hear. "Well, it- It's Breena! Breena's pregnant! I'm gonna be a father!" Jimmy exclaimed for at least the fourth time that day. "Seriously? That's great! Congratulations!" McGee said. "If it's a boy, you're gonna name it Tony, right?" Tony asked, being completely serious. "I don't know. Probably not." Jimmy said, still talking speedy. The door opened to OPS and Tim and Tony looked up.

Smiles spread across their faces as they saw who walked in. "Um we have to go." Tim said, typing rapidly. "What's going on?" Vance asked his agents. "G's back! See you later, dad!" Tony said, signing off. "Mom." Tim spoke as he and Eric worked on shutting down the conference. "Make sure Sarah's ok. Tell her I love her." Tim asked his mother. She nodded. Henry spoke, figuring this might be that last time he would get to speak to his son in quite some time. "Tim." Tim whipped his head around when he heard his father's voice. "I love you." Tim bit his lip. "I love you guys too."

Eric and Nell stood behind Tony and McGee in OPS, listening to the sounds of a happy reunion. "We did good." Eric said, turning to his fellow geek. "Yep. We sure did." Nell smiled. Deeks was in looking at on one of the computers in the corner. All was well. Then, all of the sudden, the doors opened and in walked a very battered and bruised G Callen, Kensi and Sam in his wake. Eric grabbed a chair for the weary man to sit down in.

"Thanks, Eric. I'm really tired." Callen said as he gladly accepted the chair. He sighed as he looked around OPS. Tony and McGee were smiling at him, but he could see sadness in their eyes. Eric and Nell were grinning ear to ear, obviously happy to have their friend back at work and out of the hospital. Kensi was panting because she had to carry him up the stairs but still, she was happy. Sam had his hand on the chair, just like a partner would. "So," Callen sighed and got comfortable in his chair. "What'd I miss?"

**So... Callen's back! And we had two family reunions. What's next? Well, stay tuned to find out! Thaks for reading, reviewing, and following! I love every email I get, so keep the reviews coming! (They make me write faster) Until next time, Owl**


	14. A Homecoming and a Phone Call

**WOW. I got a lot of reviews on the last chapter, so I decided to be awesome and post the newest chapter rather early. This chapter deals with Callen coming home, but more importantly, a question asked by MindFullofStories (thanks for the two reviews!) in a review of an early chapter. Tony and Ziva finally talk privately. So, Tiva fans, this is pretty much your chapter. Enjoy the Tiva-ness emanating from this chapter.**

Callen sat in the chair, examining the bulky boot on his leg and feeling the large bandage on his face. He wasn't happy about either of them, but he couldn't stand another minuet in that hospital. He belonged back at work, catching terrorists. It looked like Tony and McGee had been video chatting with their families. It sounded like a some what happy ending, but it was only intermission. But, so far, no one had answered his question. He decided if he wanted an answer, he would need to repeat his question.

"What did I miss?" Callen asked again. "Not much. We have a few new developments, but I doubt it's anything Sam hasn't told you yet." Kensi replied. Tony nodded. "Yeah. I contacted some guys at LAPD and they said they don't have knowledge of any drug or weapons deals going down." Deeks said. "We still need to find out the target. I mean, the only information we have is that The Conquistadors have a team in DC, cleaning up after Garcia, and Libertad Nueva has a scout team in Mexico." Tim said.

"Do we even know that they're still in Mexico? What if they already have their target and are moving in?" Callen asked. Tim shook his head. "No, I don't think so. I talked to Ziva. She said that if they wanted to do the job right, the scout team wouldn't move in for at least two or three weeks." Tim responded. "Ok. So we know that there's at least three Conquistador members in DC." Callen said, beginning to summarize what they knew. "Rivera, Martinez, and Hernandez." Tony specified. "Cleaning up after the dead Diego Garcia." Sam added in.

"And Libertad Nueva has a recon team in Mexico looking for potential target cities." Deeks piped up. "What do you propose we do now?" Hetty asked. "I say we try and locate them. If we pick up more chatter, we might be able to find out what city or cities they're going for, and where they are." Tim suggested.

"We can't let the media get a hold of this. Panic might kill more than the actual attack." Kensi observed. "She's right. This needs to be pretty low key. If they find out after we've arrested them, people will still freak out." Deeks agreed. "Mr. Beal, Ms. Jones, Mr. McGee. I want you to find this Ponce man. Then branch out and find the rest of his team. You are on lockdown. We will pull you out for lunch, but that is it." Hetty ordered. The three agents rushed to their computers and started trying to trace the texts. Callen was still sitting in the office chair as Sam wheeled him out of OPS, with Kensi, Deeks, and Tony following behind him.

"This is where I stop." Sam said at the top of the stairs. Callen got up and groaned. Tony and Kensi slipped past and went down ahead of them. Deeks and Sam supported Callen as he slowly made his way down the stairs. "So, what happens when McGeek and the others locate the terrorists?" Tony asked to no one in particular. "We call Gibbs. Gibbs calls Vance. Vance calls us." Callen explained, sitting down next to Kensi. "Right." Tony said, looking back at his laptop. They worked for a few minuets in silence. Then Tony got a phone call. It was Ziva's number. He stepped out to take the call. Now was the perfect time to ask her about what she said in the warehouse.

"Jack Shepherd." Tony answered the phone. "Jack. It's Ziva." she replied. "Hey, Ziva. How's it been in DC?" Tony asked. "Good. How is it where you are?" Ziva said, thinking maybe she shouldn't have called. "Fine." Came the terse response. There was a pause. "Hey, Zi. I- I wanted to talk to you about something." Tony finally voiced, ending the bout of silence that had fallen between the two of them. "What?" Ziva asked. She knew what was coming.

"Well, It- It's about what you said to me in the warehouse." Tony said, building up to something. He looked back at the rest of the team, who were all hard at work. He stepped outside, feeling some kind of heated conversation was coming up. "What did I say? That I was sorry?" Ziva asked, pretending not to remember. But Tony was too smart for that. "Come on, Ziva. Don't play dumb with me. I know you remember what you told me. You remember everything." Tony argued. He didn't raise his voice, but his tone made it clear that he wasn't hanging up without answers.

"You said you always liked me. What does that mean?" Tony said. The only thing either of them heard was heavy breathing, until Ziva broke the silence. "What do you think I meant?" Ziva bit her lip. She didn't know what to tell him. "I- I think you meant that you had always liked me." Tony said, his voice only just louder than a whisper. "Have you always liked me?" Ziva whispered back. She was sitting in her car. It was around noon, and Ziva was supposed to be getting lunch for herself and Gibbs.

"Honestly? I- I don't know, Ziva. It seems like we were just pushed together for the longest time, but we- we always had someone else. I mean, you with Michael and Ray and me with Jeanne and EJ... It feels like there was something there, like someone was about to light the candle but then they were stopped and they blew the candle out. I don't know what else to compare it to." Tony said. He was leaning up against his car in the parking lot. He'd been ambling around for the past ten minuets.

"Jeanne was different though. You didn't have a choice." Ziva said. "I had all the choice in the world, but I felt betrayed. I could have left for Europe without saying goodbye. And you could have done the same with Michael." Tony pointed out. Ziva sighed. "That was very different." Ziva said. "But you loved him." Tony said. "You loved Jeanne." Ziva argued. Tony fell silent yet again.

"Do you love me?" Ziva asked. She was hoping the answer wouldn't disappoint her. "What?" Tony said, shocked. "I asked yo if you love me." Ziva stated. There was no point in waiting. It was out there, and Ziva realized she wanted an answer. "We've been partners for almost seven years now. We've saved each others lives more than I care to remember. That's a lot more than married couples do in their whole life." Tony pointed out. "True." Ziva said. She was at a loss for words.

"I think I love you, Ziva. I really do." Tony confessed. "I think I love you as well, Ton-" She stopped herself. "Jack." Ziva corrected. She still couldn't believe that this conversation was actually happening. She had imagined it so many times, but never like this. "So where are we now?" Ziva asked after a long silence. "I'm not sure. I- I guess we are trying." Tony said. It sounded much better in his head. Hearing himself say it was like making a promise that he wasn't sure he could keep. And Tony DiNozzo always lived up to his promises. Always.

Ziva, meanwhile, was dumbfounded. Stupefied, maybe, but nevertheless she didn't miss a beat. "Ok. We are trying... to work it out." Ziva said. "Yeah. Yeah I guess we are." Tony said, laughing a bit. Ziva laughed as well. "Well, have fun Jack. Get me a souvenir, will you?" she asked. "Max has that covered. We've got a crap load of stuff. For Abby, you know." Tony replied. "Do you have any updates?" Ziva asked. She had decided against lunch for the moment, and was walking into the squadroom.

"Gibbs just walked in didn't he? Well, McGeek and the other techies are trying to trace the text messages. We're also trying to track down the recon team in Mexico and the cleaning crew in DC." Tony said. Ziva nodded and made a note to possibly ask for help from cybercrimes.

"Hey, you might want to ask the Toothpick if you can enlist the cybercrime geeks to help you track them down. It would be easier if you guys were working on it too. Speaking of that, what are you and Gibbs working on?" Tony asked. "We are trying to track down weapons shipments. It's not going as well as your work though." Ziva sighed in frustration. "Alright, Zi. I have to get back in there. I' have to go leave. Talk to you later." Tony responded.

"Jack!" Ziva said, hoping she would catch him before he hung up. "Yes?" Tony asked. "We are trying, correct?" Ziva asked. Tony smiled. "Yeah, Zi. We're gonna try." Ziva smiled on the other end. "More than partners?" she asked again. "More than partners." Tony said firmly. He smiled and headed back to the building. Maybe this was going to be an easy promise to keep.

**So? Tiva people, how was that? Please let me know because I was a little unsure about the whole thing. What do you think happens next? Let me know, because I'd love to know! Thanks for reading! ~Owl**


	15. Shed A Little Light

**This chapter is partially a tribute to the geeks of NCIS, excluding Abby. I decided one was in order, so here you go. Enjoy!**

Gibbs sat at his desk, slapping his computer. It wasn't being cooperative. "Ahh." Gibbs complained, slapping it one last time and sitting back in his chair. "Where's McGee when you need him?" Gibbs said, looking over at Ziva, who was eying Tony and McGee's empty desks. It had been over two weeks since she had said good bye to them at the warehouse.

"Dead. McGee is dead, Gibbs. You can't just bring him back to life to fix your computer." Ziva said, realizing that someone was walking towards the bullpen. "Yeah, Ziver. I know. " Gibbs said with a melancholy sigh. He took the hint that Ziva knew someone was coming and played along. Gibbs felt bad enough about playing the families, but the whole agency... That was worse. Much worse. Almost everybody liked Tony, and how could you not like McGee? Gibbs put his head in his hands and rubbed his eyes.

"Hey guys." a voice said, obviously feeling down. "Ned! What are you doing up here?" Ziva asked. Ned looked throughly depressed. He and McGee are pretty close. They had something that kind of bonded them together, but Ziva had yet to figure out what it was. "I don't really know. It's just been so hard. I can only imagine what you guys feel like. Tony and McGee were really nice. I just..." he trailed off and sighed. "I don't want to believe that they aren't coming back. It feels like they're still here, y'know? Like they're just out on a coffee break or a lunch run." Ned said, leaning up against Ziva's desk.

"How do you deal with it?" he asked. Ziva looked up at him, tears welling in her eyes. "You don't. I have experienced so much loss in my life, and I can tell you for certain that it never gets easier. It never goes away. You just find something to take your mind off it. Shooting something is what I normally do." Ziva said with a weak smile. "Thanks. I'll consider that. But I'm not a very good shot." Ned said. "Well, you're good enough to get into NCIS, right?" Ziva said optimistically. " Yeah, I guess so." Ned said, returning the weak smile. Ziva patted his shoulder and returned to her email. She had not forgotten Tony's promise. "Here's that case report you wanted." Ned said, setting the file down on her desk.

"The one on the Petty Officer murdered in South America three weeks ago?" Gibbs asked, acknowledging Dorneget's presence for the first time. "Yeah. It took me a while to find the un-redacted copy, but I did. Apparently, somebody didn't want it to be found." he said. That caught Gibbs' attention. "What do you mean?" he asked. "I found it in a stack of case reports that are dated 2001- 2004." Ned said. Gibbs nodded and took the report.

Ned looked around the bull pen once more and turned to leave. "See you later, Ziva." he said, walking off. "Bye, Ned." Ziva waved and put her head in her hands. "It is too hard, Gibbs. Much too hard." she said, looking at him. He picked up the file and went back to his desk. "Yeah, Ziva. I know."

"Oh yeah right!" Eric said in disbelief. "I'm serious!" Tim defended himself. "No offense, McGee, but I find that hard to believe." Nell said, backing Eric up. "You can find the case report. I swear it happened." McGee said they had been arguing about their scariest days on the job, and McGee decided to tell the tale of the day that he was attacked by the dog. "There is no way you got attacked by a dog." Eric said, shaking his head in disbelief as he looked up the case report. "I'm telling you! Ask Tony!" Tim said, laughing. He couldn't believe that they didn't believe him. "You know, I actually would do that if we weren't locked in OPS." Eric said, continuing to look for the file. Nell smiled and spoke. "I'll believe it when I see it." She turned back to her computer. While the boys were arguing, she was actually doing her job.

Nell wasn't necessarily frustrated with them, but they had been bickering for a long time. "What year was it?" Eric asked. He wanted proof, because he found the idea that McGee had been attacked by a dog pretty weird. "Ahh...2008? Yeah, 2008." Tim responded. He pulled up his email and searched for a picture of him and Jethro that he'd sent Abby a few months ago. "There's no record of a dog being put down. You weren't attacked by a dog." Eric turned to face McGee. He had won. "That's because he wasn't put down. Look." Tim turned his computer screen a bit and pulled up the picture of his dog.

"That just proves you have a dog." Nell pointed out. "Just look up the report! It's all in there!" Tim said, almost exasperated. "It was in like April or May of 2008. Probably April." Tim told him. "Ok then. Special Agent Timothy McGee, April, 2008, Case reports. Now we'll find out who's right." Eric said as he hit enter. All of the case reports Tim had filed in April of 2008 appeared and Tim began to relive them. Eric sifted through them and found the one filed on April 15. "Pay up." McGee held out his hand and smiled as Eric's jaw dropped. Tim had really been attacked by a dog. And pretty bad, by the looks of the report. "What's your dog's name?" Nell asked. "Well, the Navy named him Butch, but Abby renamed him Jethro. It kind of stuck, so his name's Jethro." Tim explained as Eric fished twenty dollars out of his wallet.

"You suck." Eric said, scowling at his computer. Tim decided to be a good winner and not rub it in. Honestly, Tim didn't really like talking about that whole incident. You don't know fear until you have a giant German Shepherd biting your neck open. The tech trio, as Tony had named them, sat in OPS, trying to track down terrorists, just like they had been doing for the past hour now. It was a little after 10 in the morning on a sunny Thursday in Los Angeles. Tim tried to decrypt yet another text, but failed for the third time in a row. "Damn it!" he cursed at the computer. Nell and Eric were too focused to care. That was about the only thing the tech trio had said in the past hour.

Their professors at MIT would have been proud, that's all Eric could say. And if they didn't wear badges, they would be going to jail. For the rest of their lives, most likely. Eric had almost found the origin of the first text message Ponce sent a few months ago. It was, indeed in South America. The question was, where? Eric continued to try and find the answers. He was determined to find out where Ponce was. Eric had nothing against Tony and Tim, but OSP was getting a little too crowded for his liking.

"YES!" Tim yelled, a look of accomplishment spreading across his face. Eric kept decrypting and asked what he had just done. "I found out who's on the recon team in Mexico. They're all members of Libertad Nueva." he stated, cuing it up on the big screen. Nell left her chair, but Eric stayed. He was so close, there was no way he stopping now.

"YES!" Eric said, jumping out of his chair and joining Tim and Nell. "What's your revelation?" Tim questioned. "You'll see." Eric grinned. Tim shrugged. "Ok. So we know about the Conquistador team in DC and the recon team in Mexico. I found out where in Mexico and who the members are. Juan Ortega, Ricardo Velasquez, and Carlos Trevino are all in Mexico." Tim stated proudly. "Ortega is a citizen of the US, while Trevino and Velasquez were born in Colombia." he said.

"Ok. Well, You know the first text that ponce sent a few months ago?" Eric asked. "Yeah." Nell responded, "I traced it back to Bogota, the capital of Columbia." Eric stated. "We better get everyone else up here." Tim said, reaching for his phone. Eric stopped him. "You wanna know how I do it?" Eric asked. "Sure." Tim said. Eric's expression told him this would be fun. Nell shook her head and went back to her chair. "Boys." Tim and Eric exited OPS and made their way to the railing. "So, Tim. Can you whistle?"

**And there comes the whistle! I just had to put that in there. Anyways, what do you think? Let me know because I adore reviews! Thanks for reading! ~Owl**


	16. Face The Facts

**So sorry for the delay! Life has been... insane to say the least. School is slowly engulfing my every living breathing moment of free time, but I have somehow found time to keep writing. This chapter explores a few different things I wanted to touch on, see if you can figure out which one's are going to become issues. Enjoy!**

"Have a seat." Vance motioned to the table. Admiral Henry McGee smoothed his uniform out and complied. "Director, before you speak, I would like to complain-" the Admiral was cut off. "Henry, I know you're upset. But I I'm briefing you on this. Your son is fine. There is nothing to worry about." Vance said. "Nothing to worry about? There are plenty of things to worry about, Leon! My son is- is where is he?" Henry asked. "Los Angeles. The NCIS Office of Special Projects." Vance answered. "What, is that like NCIS' version of SpecOps?" Henry said sarcastically. "Yes." Vance said. "Ok... Well what the hell is he doing there?" Henry asked. "Protecting his country. And saving it." Vance responded cryptically. He continued to talk.

"Your son, Agent McGee,-" Henry cut him off. "Tim." He said. Vance nodded and continued. "Tim and his partner, Tony, have recently become targets of interest and bloodlust for some South American anti-US groups in the past three years, particularly The Conquistadors and Libertad Nueva. Their team took down around half of Libertad Nueva four years ago in a murder investigation, and six Conquistadors were picked up here three almost three weeks ago for drug possession. This hit home for the groups. Now the two groups are working on a terrorist plot against the US. We're doing everything we can to stop it." Vance said. The Admiral nodded slowly. "How bad will this be?" he asked. "Worse than 9/11. You can understand Tim wanting to protect his country, yes?" Vance asked. Henry sighed.

"Emma and I knew from the day he turned one that Tim was a special kid. We had his IQ tested and it was very high. But I wanted him to join the Navy. McGee's have been in the Navy since the first World War, and I wanted to continue the tradition. But when he got accepted into MIT at seventeen and Johns Hopkins four years later... I knew there was no way. I thought he was going to be someone who sits around playing games all day. But I look at how far he's come and I kick myself for not letting him be who he wanted to be. And somehow, he's still going to protect his country more than I ever have." Henry said. Vance looked at the man with a little more respect than he previously had.

"Tim's a great agent, Henry. He's more than just a smart guy." Vance told the distraught father. Henry smiled and a tear ran down his cheek. Tim had showed him up big time.

"I am."

Meanwhile, in the squadroom, Gibbs and Ziva were working on tracking down more members of the groups. They had been at it for almost twelve hours at this point, but they hadn't found much. Gibbs' phone rang, startling them both. Ziva sighed and sat back in her chair as Gibbs answered. Things were too quiet without Tony and McGee. There was no one to have sudden outbursts or act crazy. There was no one to be Tony, the lovable maniac or McGee, the super nice geek. There was no one like them.

"Gibbs Gibbs Gibbs!" Abby said into the phone. "Yeah, Abbs?" Gibbs said. Ziva looked over. "Can you come down to my lab? Like now? Unless you're busy. But this is really really important! Like, major not good important!" Abby asked. Gibbs looked around the half empty squadroom. "Yeah. I'm on my way." Gibbs said, hanging up. He got up and started walking. "Come on, Ziver. Abby's lab." Ziva smiled and rushed after him.

"So what exactly are we doing?" Tim asked. He was slightly confused. Eric had led him to the railing that overlooked the squadroom-like place. "You call people when you get an update, I like to spice things up. So I whistle. It gets people's attention." Eric stated. Tim smiled. "Yeah Gibbs would slap us silly if we did that." he laughed a bit as Eric began the countdown.

"On the count of three, we whistle." Eric stated. Tim nodded as Eric ticked his fingers off. The double whistle cut through the semi- quiet air and scared the living daylights out of Tony, to Tim's delight. He laughed as Tony got off the floor and dusted himself off.

"Come on, guys. Looks like the tech trio found something." Callen said as Sam, Kensi, and Deeks got up. Tony followed, not quite sure what the whistling thing was about, but glad that his name has stuck. "Whaddya got, McGeek?" Tony said as he leaned up against the table. "We finally traced the text messages." Tim started.

Kensi and Deeks got a confused look on their faces at the sound of the odd nickname, but neither decided to call any attention to it. "Yeah. Apparently, Ponce is hiding out in Colombia. I traced the first text he sent last month to Bogota, the capital. He's been there this whole time." Eric said.

"Well, that's not really surprising." Deeks said. Everyone looked at him. "I'm just saying that if I were this Ponce guy, I wouldn't want to leave my base camp if I was going underground." he explained. Kensi nodded in agreement. "I'm with Deeks on this one. I would want to stay somewhere that I could still control my operations, as well as knowing the city." she said.

"I also found out who's on the scout team in Mexico." Tim said. "Juan Ortega, Ricardo Velasquez, and Carlos Trevino. They've been hiding out in the border town of Tijuana." Tim stated proudly. "Tijuana is just south of San Diego, right?" Callen asked. Tim nodded.

"Ortega has come into the US six times in the past two weeks. We got the security tapes from the border patrol. That's him in the driver's seat and Trevino in the passenger. Velasquez is in the backseat." Nell said, pulling up his passport. Tony looked on, his brain formulating many possible reasons that the terrorists could be staking out San Diego. "Shouldn't we flag their passports?" Kensi asked. Tony shook his head as he leaned up against the table.

"No. If we do that, then Ponce will just send another team to pick up where they left off. Plus, we would loose all information we have on the attack." Callen said, agreeing with Tony. "Letting this play out is a very risky move, Mr. Callen. We could possibly arrest them right now for murder if we wanted to." Hetty said, appearing out of nowhere. Tony jumped four feet and Sam sniggered.

"If we arrest them now, we'll never find out where they are planning to attack." Callen countered. Tim spoke for the first time in a while. "And we also run the risk of Libertad Nueva and The Conquistadors finding out that Tony and I aren't dead." he argued. Hetty nodded and looked around at everyone and processed the information.

Both points were valid arguments, especially Agent McGee's. But there was something nagging at her. Hetty sighed and said, "Very well. Keep up the spectacular effort, Ladies and gentleman. We still have much work to do." She said as she exited OPS. It was time to call Jethro.

Deeks looked around at his team mates with the word 'disbelief' written all over his face. Callen and Sam smiled while Kensi's mouth was ajar. Tim and Tony looked over at each other, not understanding what the big deal was. "Has she ever said that our work was spectacular?" Deeks asked. Kensi shook her head and Sam spoke. "Don't think so." he said. Tony glanced at his partner knowingly.

"We know the feeling well, don't we P-" Tony stopped himself as Tim glared at him. Callen, Sam, Kensi, Deeks, Eric and Nell watched the tense standoff between the two agents with curiosity.

"You two want some alone time?" Deeks joked. "Very funny, Deeks. But no." Tony said. Callen looked at his watch. "Well, Sam it's your turn to get the takeout." he looked at his partner. "I could go for some pizza right now." Kensi said as they all walked out of OPS. Callen got to the bottom of the stars and cursed at his boot. "I hate this thing! It's so debilitating!" he complained as he limped to his chair. Sam laughed and left to get the pizza.

"So what was up with that little bromance moment up in OPS?" Deeks questioned the out-of-towners. Tim glared again and Tony decided not to push his luck. He had no doubt that Tim would shoot him if he snitched on his partner. "Nothing. It's a thing we do back in DC. Staring's kind of the only way we communicate. We're very into the expressions." Tony explained, hoping that they wouldn't try and pursue the matter further.

Kensi and Deeks nodded, both unconvinced. Callen seemed to believe him but only because he knew Gibbs. Deeks wrote something down on a piece of paper and slipped it into his pocket before sitting down. They were lying, and he was determined to find out why.

**And we see that the Admiral really does love his son, Abby had bad news, and Deeks is determined to find out what's up with Tony and McGee. This should be interesting. Let me know what you think is going to happen as well as what you thought of the latest installment. Thanks a million for reading! Until the next chapter, Owl.**


	17. Deception At Its Worst

**So sorry for the giant gap in updates, I've had so much going on as of late. Hopefully you all can forgive me. And MindFullOfStories- this is the Densi chapter you've been waiting for. Now for the moment we've all been waiting for! Enjoy the next chapter!**

"What's up, Abbs?" Gibbs said as he and Ziva walked into her lab. The punk rock music was at a lower volume than normal and Abby was running around frantically, grabbing things and looking for something that didn't seem to be there. "Oh Gibbs! Oh, hi Ziva! Ooh, Caf-Pow! Thank you so much!" Abby said, taking the drink from Ziva. "Abby! What did you call me down here for?" Gibbs asked. "I- I found something... something hinky. It's just too weird and coincidental..." she said. "You know how I feel about those, Abby." Gibbs said as he walked to the plasma. Abby sat down and Ziva looked on from behind with curiosity. "I do! That's why I called you down." she said, typing in her password. "What is hinky?" Ziva asked. "I will tell you. Ok so I found this file. And in this file, there were all of these pictures." Abby said as she pulled it up. When it hit he plasma, the three of them gasped.

"Those were _not_ there when I found it." Abby said. "Oh my God." Ziva said. "When were these taken?" Gibbs asked. "They were uploaded yesterday." Abby said, looking at the timestamps. "That's not what I asked." he said, moving to the computer. "I'm sorry Gibbs! I can't tell unless I were able to look at the actual camera!" Abby said as she sifted through all of the pictures. They were all of Tony and McGee. "Gibbs, that's Santa Monica Pier! These were taken less than three weeks ago!" Abby said. "Somebody knows they aren't dead." Ziva said. "Someone at NCIS." Gibbs added. The two turned to him. "Dorneget said that the South American case file you requested was shoved in a box of old case files... What years?" Gibbs started. Ziva thought back to the conversation that happened only a few minuets ago. "2001-2004." she responded. "Gibbs, Tony joined NCIS in 2001." Abby said. "And McGee joined my team in 2004. There is somebody who knows they aren't dead." Gibbs said.

"There is a mole in the agency?" Ziva asked. Gibbs nodded. He was beyond angry. This whole thing was in danger. Tony and McGee were in danger. Hell, everyone at the Los Angeles office was in danger. "Ziver, you're with me! Abby, you look for anyone in this building and at the LA office who has contacted anyone from Colombia in the past month!" Gibbs said as he ran out of the lab. Somebody knew. Someone knew that Tony and McGee weren't dead, which meant that someone had worked with them while they were in LA. Yes, there was a mole in the agency. Things were not looking good.

_**One day earlier**_

"I'm telling you, something is going on! The way he looked at him and he shut up immediately. It's not normal." Deeks said. Kensi sighed. "They're partners, Deeks. Every partnership has their own little things. Like you and I." she said as she tied her shoe. Deeks started stretching and replied. "What 'little things' do we have?" he asked. "You know. The Sunday runs. The Friday ice cream outings. The after we solve a case beer. Y'know. Little things." Kensi stated. Deeks made a face and realized every one of those things were true. They were getting ready for one of those Sunday runs right now. He rolled his eyes and dropped the argument. For now.

"I still can't believe I'm actually going to work on Sunday. This is so not right." Deeks said as he jumped up and down to warm up. "Well Hetty said that we're probably going to be working weekends until this whole thing is over." Kensi said. Deeks groaned. "Why do _we_ have to stop the terrorists?" he complained. "Oh relax, Mr. Crybaby." Kensi said. Deeks turned to face her. "Wait a second did- did you just call me a- I am not a crybaby!" he defended. "Whatever." Kensi said nonchalantly. Deeks rolled his eyes and sighed, putting _that_ subject behind him as well.

"So, Fern. Where are we going to run today? Or, should I say, where are you going to kick butt?" he joked. "How about a route that leads us to work?" she suggested. "Are you serious? Do you know how far away we are from NCIS?" he asked incredulously. Kensi nodded and smiled. "Yeah. Come on, Deeks. Man up. Bet you can't beat me!" She said as she took of down the street. Deeks sighed and got up. "This is going to suck." he laughed and tried to catch up with her. "I'd rather be surfing." Deeks said as he kept pace with his partner. "Well then go get your board." Kensi countered. "Ha ha. Very funny. How are we going to get home tonight? There is no way I am walking home." Deeks asked.

"Maybe you can catch a ride with Tony and Tim. Get in on their thing." Kensi laughed. Deeks rolled his eyes. "Sometimes, you are really really annoying." he said as they rounded a corner. "I don't know. I think it's really pretty out this time of day. The sun is shining, the ocean is sparkling." Kensi said. "Not to mention most of the crazy people aren't up yet." Deeks added. She looked over and punched him in the arm. "I'm just saying that there are a lot of very... different... people living in Los Angeles." he defended himself. Kensi scoffed.

"Ok... can... we... please... take a... water... break or... something?" Deeks said. They had been running for almost an hour and he was about to pass out. "Sure." Kensi said. They stopped and found a little coffee shop across the street from some apartment buildings. "Ok, I have been around most all of LA and have never seen this neighborhood before." Kensi commented as they sat down in the air conditioning.

"Same... here." Deeks panted. "Weird." Kensi muttered as she went up to order some water for the two of them. Deeks looked at his watch and spoke. "Fern, we have to be at work in like a half an hour and Ryan challenged me to a rock climbing competition this morning. There's no way we're gonna be on time today." he complained. Kensi sat down and rolled her eyes.

"Shut up, Deeks. We'll be fine." she quipped. Deeks let out a long breath of air and took a sip of his water. "This is my favorite beverage. I don't care about beer or wine or anything else. Water is number one." he said, drinking the rest. "You won't say that when you've had two Buds on game day." Kensi replied. "Well I'm saying it now." he retorted.

"So then I told him that I really didn't care and that he better not bother me again." a familiar voice said as the door opened. Kensi and Deeks whipped their heads around to see Tony and Tim walked in and order coffee. "What are they doing here?" Kensi asked. "I have no clue, but I'm gonna find out." Deeks said, getting up for more water. "Can I get one coffee with two creams for my friend and one cream and sugar for me?" Tim ordered. The waitress was quite attractive, and Tony saw his chance. "Hey, I'm Jack." He smiled the smile that got him the ladies every time. Tim rolled his eyes.

"Get lost, dude. I'm taken. Here's your coffee." she said and ran into the back. Tony's jaw dropped and Tim laughed. "You just got rejected!" he said. "Shut up, Max." Tony grumbled. They walked out of the little coffee shop and across the street. "Hey, you see those two people near our car?" Tim said. Tony glanced over, then back to Tim. "Yeah, why?" he asked. "Looks kind of suspicious." Tim suggested. "Yeah." Tony agreed. He moved to put his hand on his gun. "Sup guys." Deeks said once they neared the car. "What are you guys doing here?" Tim asked as he put the coffee on top of their car.

"We were running and Deeks chickened out so we stopped for some water." Kensi said. "Hey, she's the crazy one here. She wanted to run to work. We've been running since five thirty." Deeks defended himself. Tim and Tony rolled their eyes. "Let me guess. You guys want a ride to work?" Tony said. "Yeah. Pretty much." Deeks said. Tim got in the driver seat and Deeks and Kensi climbed in the back. "Why are you guys here?" Kensi asked.

"The apartment we're sharing is right there." Tony answered as he pointed out the window. "Oh." Kensi said. Then something weird happened. All four of their phones buzzed or beeped at the same time. They all pulled them out and looked at the text. "It's from Hetty." Tim said. The others nodded in agreement. "Oh Crap." Deeks said. "We need to get to work. Like now." Kensi said. "Drive, McSpeedy!" Tony said as he buckled his seatbelt. "Already on it!"

**Woah, there. Lot's of awesome twists! Let me know what you thought of this chapter because I love me some reviews! Thanks so much for reading! Until next time (which will hopefully be soon), Owl.**


	18. Collapse

**Ok.. This chapter may be a little bit confusing tense wise, but hopefully I can clarify. The first part, in LA, takes place one day before real time while the last two are happening in real time. I wasn't exactly sure how to write it that it wasn't horribly confusing, but I did my best. Enjoy!**

"What happened?" Deeks asked, staring at his friend through the glass window. "Agent Swift found him in his apartment this morning when he went to pick him up. He brought him straight here." Hetty replied. "It just doesn't make sense. Ryan would never try to kill himself! He's got a girlfriend." Deeks shook his head. "A girlfriend doesn't always stop somebody, Mr. Deeks." Hetty looked up at him. "Yeah but there was nothing that would have pushed him over the edge. He has it going for him." Deeks sighed. "It- It just doesn't make sense." he said, moving away from the window.

"How is he?" Kensi asked. "He tried to overdose on heroine. Almost did. The doctors are doing everything they can, but they won't know for sure for another twenty four." Deeks relayed what he had found out about Ryan. "Why would he try and kill himself? Every time I saw him, he seemed pretty happy." Tony asked to no one in particular. "I don't think he would want to kill himself. Ryan's not that kind of guy. Tony's right, this isn't adding up." Deeks whispered.

"What if someone tried to make it look like he killed himself? Ryan's a strong guy, he might have been able to fight off an attacker before he killed him completely." Tim theorized. Hetty nodded. Any scenario that said Agent Hassley didn't try to commit suicide was a good one. Mr. Deeks and Mr. DiNozzo were very right, nothing about this made any sense. "Then who was his attacker?" Kensi asked. "Why was he trying to kill Hassley?" Tony asked again. "And where is he now?" Deeks finished, glancing back at Ryan.

"Do you think this had anything to do with Agent Hassley's suicide attempt yesterday?" Abby said, recalling the incident. "I do not see any connection." Ziva said. "Unless he ws the mole." Abby pointed out. Gibbs nodded seemingly in agreement. "Ziva, call Tony. Get Hassley's records sent over." he ordered. "What kind of records?" Ziva inquired. "All of them. Medical, case files, you name it, I want it. Also, check on how Hassley's doing." Gibbs clarified. "On it." Ziva said as she left Gibbs and Abby in the lab. Abby looked up at Gibbs, who wasn't moving.

"Don't you have to work?" she asked. "Not if you need to talk to me." Gibbs said. He had noticed something was troubling her all day. She was slightly off her game. "What do you mean?" Abby asked again. "Abbs, I know something's been bothering you. And I'm pretty sure it's not this." Gibbs said, gesturing to the screen. Abby sighed and plopped down in her chair.

"It's a lot, Gibbs. It's almost too much. Tony and McGee have been gone for just under a month now. All of my friends think they're dead. I mean, sure, we know they're still here and so do their families, but I accidentally mentioned Tony when I was eating lunch with Agent Mathers a few days ago and she said she felt really sorry for me. I went to their funerals, Gibbs! Their funerals! We've all lost someone, wether it be family or friends, but talking about them in the past tense... Sometimes, I forget they're still alive." Abby said as she buried her head in Gibbs' shoulder. Gibbs hugged her back and tried to console her.

"I know, Abbs. It's been hard for all of us." he said. Abby sniffled. "And now agents are trying to kill themselves and I'm afraid for them, Gibbs. there's someone out there who knows Tim and Tony are still alive! What if they get to them too?" she worried. "No, Abby, you can't think like that. They are never going to get to them. They'll come home, I promise." Gibbs assured. "Are you sure?" Abby asked as she pulled away from Gibbs' warm embrace. "I'm positive."

"Abby! Slow down please! And say it again." Tim said into the phone. "Ok, sorry. I was snooping around the NCIS database on a hunch and I found this hinky file. I pulled it up and I found all of these pictures of homemade looking weapons. So then I called Gibbs and when I pulled the file back up, there was something different about it." Abby said. "Ok... Different how?" Tim asked curiously. She sounded slightly confused herself. "Did you and Tony go down to the Santa Monica Pier recently?" Abby asked. "Yeah, last weekend, but why does that matter?" Tim asked. He was very confused. "Just... Bring everyone up to OPS. I sent the file to Eric. I have to go now, but tell Tony to call Gibbs when you're done." Abby said, speaking fast again. "Oh- Ok?" Tim said into dead air.

"What was that all about?" Callen asked as Tim hung up. "Abby said she sent something to Eric that we need to see. Callen sighed wearily and looked at Sam. "You're going to have to start carrying me up these stairs." he said. Kensi laughed and helped him up. Sam shook his head. "No way, G. You need the workout anyway." he said as he and Deeks started walking up the stairs behind Kensi, Tony and Tim supporting Callen in the back. "Thanks guys." Callen said when they got to the top. "No problem." they both replied as they walked into the dimly lit room.

"Eric! Open your email. Abby sent you something we need to look at." Callen ordered as Hetty slipped in silently. "Sure thing." Eric said. He and Nell stood up and walked over to the center of the room. "Here we- woah." Eric said as the file's contents spilled out onto the screen.

"Oh God." Tony said.

"What the-?" Sam uttered.

"Oh dear." Hetty gasped.

"Now would be a really good time to call Gibbs, Tony." Tim said as he looked at everything on the screen. Without taking his eyes off what was in front of him, Tony nodded and grabbed his phone. "I think you're right, McGee." he called his boss and stepped away for a second. "Gibbs." came the usual answer. "Boss, did you see this?" Tony asked incredulously. Tony could almost see Gibbs sitting in his basement, leaning up against the wood frame of his latest project and scowling at his cold cup of coffee. He had been there too many times before.

"Yeah, DiNozzo, I did. What do you want to do about it?"

**So what happens next? Let me know your comments, theories, etc. because reviews make my day! Thanks a million for reading and until the next update, Owl.**


	19. Ripping At The Seams

**I bring you... the next chapter! Hope you like it! Not much to say about this one, It's pretty straight forward. Anyways, Enjoy!**

"So what exactly do we have?" Callen asked. There was so much going on. Tony, who had previously been talking to Gibbs, strode over. Overhearing the question, he was the first to answer. "These fricken creepy pictures of McGee and I at the pier, and a mole at NCIS. Gibbs thinks it's Hassley." Tony said. "No... Ryan's a good guy. He would never do something like this." Deeks defended his friend. "But it makes sense." Sam countered. "Look, the last thing we want to do right now is point fingers. I think we should go through every theory again, see which one's hold up and which one's fall through." Callen reasoned. Everybody seemed to agree.

"What if Tim's right? What if Hassley didn't try to kill himself? What if somebody else was trying to silence him?" Kensi conjectured. Tony looked over at Tim and could almost see the gears turning. "What if-" he cut off, thinking it over once more. It was a good theory, but the question was is it possible. Tim sighed and continued.

"What if Hassley was the mole." Deeks opened his mouth to protest again, but Tim didn't give him the chance. "Just hear me out. What if Ryan was working for one of out terrorist groups as a mole and he messed up somehow or they just didn't need him anymore. The groups would want him dead, but they would want it done quietly. Say one or two guys went to Ryan's place to try and make him OD on heroine to make it look like Ryan was having second thoughts and wanted out. But then Ryan fought whoever was trying to kill him off and they fled." Tim said.

Deeks looked at the floor. He just couldn't imagine Ryan doing anything like this, but everything seemed to be adding up. Callen nodded. He clearly liked this theory. "Eric, check the local hospitals and ER's, see if anyone matching the descriptions of our terrorists have been checked in. Nell, try and find out where those pictures were uploaded and get all the access logs. I want to know where those pictures have been. Tim, get two agents on Ryan at the hospital. Get two shifts. I don't want him alone in case one of our terrorists tries to finish the job." Callen said.

He, along with Sam, Kensi, and Tony headed out of OPS. Eric, Nell, and Tim were busy on their computers when Deeks approached Hetty. She hadn't said a word the whole time, but Deeks still knew she was there, lurking in the back. "What is it, Mr. Deeks?" she asked. "I was wondering if I could go and see Hassley at the hospital. Check on him, see how he's doing. I might be able to get some information out of him if he's feeling well." Deeks said, reasoning with her.

"What is the real reason you want to visit Mr. Hassley?" Hetty asked. Deeks sighed. "Ryan and I are close. We've gotten each other out of more than one sticky situation. He's a friend." Deeks said. Hetty nodded. "Go. Call Mr. Callen with an update when you get there."

"Hey, Ziva!" Abby said as she walked into the squadroom. Ziva looked up from her calendar as she crossed off the days. "It's been a month." she said solemnly. Abby looked at the floor and shuffled her feet. "Yeah, I know." Ziva sighed and looked at her desktop. "Do you remember this day?" Ziva asked. Abby smiled. "Yeah. Tony got so drunk he couldn't even walk and then they kicked us out of the bar. That was a really long time ago." Abby laughed a bit.

"Yes, it was. I miss them, Abby. I miss Tony bickering about the stupidest things and his ridiculous smile and his hair when he's had a bad night. And when he cocks his head to the side and gets this cocky grin on his face..." Ziva trailed off and Abby looked at her with sad eyes.

"I miss Timmy too. That funny face me makes when something isn't right or when he's had too many Caf-Pows and Nutter Butters he bounces off the walls and cleans my lab for me. And his silly little quirks that make him who he is. I miss both of them, Ziva. I can't take this much longer." Abby said as she squatted down behind Ziva's desk and began to cry. Ziva wrapped a comforting arm around her. "We all miss them, Abby. But they will come back." Ziva consoled her. "But when?" Abby asked like a child who's lost their favorite toy.

"I have no clue, Abby. I have absolutely no clue."

"Do you miss them at all?" Tim asked as he fumbled with the lock. "Who?" Tony asked as Tim dropped the keys. He cursed under his breath and bent down to pick them up. Tony scooted over to let the people living down the hall by. "I swear the couple next door thinks we're gay." Tony said as they gave the pair quizzical looks. Tim rolled his eyes. "You didn't answer my question." he said as he finally got the lock to work.

"Do I miss them?" Tony confirmed. Really, he was just avoiding the question. He didn't want to have to talk about Ziva. What if something slipped out? "Yeah. Do you miss Washington, Abby, Ziva, Gibbs, Ducky, Palmer, all those guys? Do you miss home?" Tim inquired. Tony sighed as he plopped down on the couch and put a movie into the DVD player.

"I guess so. It's been a month since we... y'know... kicked the bucket. The guys down here are cool, but I always hated moving. So yeah, I guess I miss Ziva." Tony said. Wait a second. Did he just say- "Wait, did you just say you missed Ziva? Like, specifically Ziva?" Tim asked. Tony's eyes widened. Crap crap crap!

'Well, Tony. You're screwed.' he thought to himself as Tim joined him on the couch. "Well I- I miss Ziva, but I miss everyone else too." Tony said. "You're lying." Tim said. Tony shook his head adamantly. "You are so lying." Tim said. "That's pretty brave of you, breaking rule 12. I bet you're glad we're three thousand miles away from Gibbs now." Tim grinned evilly at Tony who, in turn, sighed and put his head in his hands. "I'm dead, aren't I?" he asked.

"Well that depends on what you actually did." Tim said. Tony sighed again as he rubbed his eyes. He looked at Tim, who was patiently waiting for an explanation. Finally he spoke.

"I made a promise."

**Is it possible to have a Tiva moment when they're 3,000 miles apart? I think so! Let me know what you thought because I'd love to hear! Happy Thanksgiving to all who will be celebrating tomorrow! Until next time, Owl**


	20. Pieces of A Puzzle and Changing times

**This is a bit of an unusual chapter. After fussing about it and rewriting it several times, I have finally given in and gone with the original copy. Trust me, it's the best of many. I wanted to try and do more of a storytelling aspect to the last part, so that's what that's all about. Now, picking up right where we left off...**

"What kind of promise?" Tim inquired. "The kind I plan on keeping. I promised that we- Ziva and I- would... try." Tony finally got out. Tim's jaw dropped. "You said you would try and be together? Gibbs is going to gut you and hang you on his wall like a fish!" Tim exclaimed. Tony sighed frustratedly. "I- I know! Which is why I don't know why I said it in the first place!" Tony said. Tim clapped him on the back. "Hey." he caught Tony's attention.

"Do you... love her?" he awkwardly asked. Tony sat back on the couch and thought about it. All those time over the past seven years... When they were under cover assassins, when they were trapped in the shipping container, when he and McHostage rescued her from Somalia... There had been so many times he just wanted to say something, but he never could. He really thought about it. And then he looked at McGee.

"I- I love her." Tony said. Tim nodded slowly.

"Then who is Gibbs to say you can't go out with a girl you love? He doesn't run your life. No matter how much you want to please him, you have to remember he's not your father. Even then, he still wouldn't be able to stop you. Don't let a rule that was only created because of one bad breakup between a red head and a guy who has a worse track record with women than me stop you from going out with Ziva. To take Gibbs' track record with women that seriously is to consider taking a drunk drug addict's witness statement with less than a bucket of salt." Tim said. Tony slowly sat up, looking at Tim the whole time with a quizzical expression plastered on his face. "What?" Tim said.

"What was that all about, McDr. Phil?" Tony looked at him incredulously. Tim shrugged and went to the kitchen. "I studied psychology after I graduated MIT. I moved to biomedical engineering and Johns Hopkins after a year, but it was still interesting." he said, pulling leftover Chinese food out. "You want some?" he said, holding last night's dinner in the air and shaking it. Tony sighed and played the movie. "Yeah, sure. Whatever."

"Guys! Ryan did not try and kill himself! Wait, guys?" Deeks said as he ran into the bullpen. It was empty. "No guys. Just me." Eric called from the second floor. Deeks looked up, startled. "Oh well. You can help." Deeks said as he leapt up the stairs three at a time. He and Eric walked into OPS just as Nell walked out. "W- Where are you going?" Eric asked. "Hetty called." Nell explained quickly before bouncing gracefully down the stairs. "Right. So why didn't Ryan try and kill himself?" Eric said, turning to Deeks. "Oh, yeah." Deeks said, remembering his big news.

"When I was bossing the agents around he woke up. He told me that two guys came into his apartment and tried to kill him. He managed to get one of them but the stronger one overpowered and shoved heroine up his nose. Ryan said he might have injured the guy, but he doesn't remember much at this point. The doctors sedated him after that, so that's all I know." Deeks relayed what he had found out. Eric studied him for a second.

"I don't know much about profiling, but I would bet money you're not telling me something." he guessed, hoping he was correct. Deeks sighed. "Yeah, um... he kept apologizing over and over again. I think he was sorry for leaking information to our friends." Deeks said. Eric nodded and pulled something up on the screen. He went over to the cabinet under his desk and pulled out two wireless video game controllers. "Hey. I just got Call of Duty Black Ops two. Haven't played it yet." he said, throwing Deeks a controller. He smiled and leaned up against the table. "You're on, Eric."

It had been over a month since Tony and McGee had died. People were still sad and people still missed them dearly, but people had also moved on. A large number of inquiries had been made, according to the Director, to be reassigned to Gibbs' team, and more were being made every day. He repeatedly declined. Now, some people thought it was because he was being pressured by Gibbs to let him choose his own agents, while others believed that Vance was having a lapse of judgement and professionalism and he refused to accept the fact they were gone.

Their funerals had been held, their names added to the wall of agents who have died in the line of duty. The agents of NCIS dealt with loss every day, wether it be a fellow agent, a friend, suspect, or even Marines and Naval Personnel. But this loss was one of the most significant ever. Everybody knew either Tony or McGee, and most people liked them.

No one had stepped foot in Abby's lab besides Ziva, Gibbs, Ducky, and Jimmy since the day they came home two short. She continued to work, knowing she could talk to Timmy almost anytime she pleased, taking the three hour time difference into account. However, she refused to take down the amasses of pictures of her friends from her wall. Ziva frequented the lab much more often now a days.

She not only enjoyed the company of the cheerful and eccentric goth, but she also liked to look at all of the photographs on the walls. Abby had known Tony for four years before Ziva had met him, and she had known Tim for two, which meant Abby was giving Ducky a run for his money story telling wise. Ziva was becoming very interested in their lives before she met them.

Things were much different now than they were ten or eleven years ago, Ziva started to realize. She had been told many stories of Kate Todd, engulfing Abby in a comforting embrace when she began to cry. Ziva had learned of Tony's previous adventures and a few of the more quirky and eccentric tales told in confidence between Abby and McGee. She could almost see the pair dating, although the idea seemed outrageous at the same time.

Yes, NCIS has experienced much loss over the years, but very few rivaled that of Anthony DiNozzo and Timothy McGee.

**How did you like it? Not a lot of action, but the right amount of happenings I think... Let me know because reviews are my favorite! Until next week, Owl.**


	21. Miss You

**I know... It's been like months. Please don't kill me. I seriously only have one excuse and that is I had some sort of mid-story crisis and rethought everything that I had planned out for this. Believe me, you don't want to see how I was going to end the story. But it's better now and we're nearing closer to the end. Somewhere around ten chapters? I don't know. Oh, and for those of you who have been asking for a little bit more Tiva- I think you'll enjoy this chapter. Anyways, enough rambling on my part. You're here to read, so enjoy!**

"I think I kinda miss them." Agent Sherman voiced, his head resting on his hand. He and his partner had just finished up a case, and they had nothing better to do (considering that their boss was out on a coffee run) so they decided to pass the time with conversation. "Yeah, me too. It's strange. I never really thought I liked DiNozzo but here I'm saying that I miss the dude." Agent Marx agreed, nodding his head and glaring at his non-functioning computer.

Miles Sherman and Josh Marx had been good friends for a few years at this point, and each had talked to the two dead agents multiple times.

"I hear Gibbs isn't accepting any new recruits to his team. It's still just him and that Israeli chick... what's her name?" Josh said. "I think it's Ziva David. Did you hear about the stunt she pulled like three years ago?" Miles asked. "Yeah. Didn't she commit treason?" Josh asked. Miles shook his head and shrugged. "Something like that, I think." he said. Josh sipped his coffee and looked around the building. "Y'know, I wouldn't mind being transferred to Gibbs' team." he thought aloud. "Oh yes you would." Gibbs said as he passed the agents. Josh and Miles exchanged a dreadful look, which grew into a mortified expression as the NCIS legend stopped and back pedaled.

"Sherman and Marx, right?" he asked, his signature coffee cup in his hands. They both shook their heads. "That's us." Miles said. "Porter's team?" he asked again. "Yep." Josh responded. Gibbs entered their bullpen and walked over to Miles, who had talked to the man many times before. Gibbs remembered they called him in for help on a case involving a group of Western European hit-men. He grew up in the area, and Vance had suggested they seek him out. Gibbs probably wouldn't admit it to anyone besides his team, but without Sherman's help, they would not have solved the case or tied the entire group back to the murder of a Petty Officer. He was a good agent.

"Didn't your partner get shot?" Gibbs asked. Miles nodded. "Yeah... Gwen is still in the hospital, but the doctors think it'll be a full recovery." he answered. Gibbs nodded thoughtfully. "Tell her I said get well. Oh, and by the way, Marx." Gibbs said. Josh snapped his head up and looked at the man. "Yes?" he asked. "Someone once told me this, 'Always get to know people. They might do you some good one day.'" he quoted, turning to face the agent. "Who said that?" Josh asked.

"Anthony DiNozzo, Jr." Gibbs said, walking off. Marx swallowed the lump in his throat.

**~~~xxx~~~**

"I know... I miss you too... Yes... Shalom." Ziva said, hanging up the phone. "That your father, Ziva?" Gibbs asked. Ziva nodded. "Yes. He called to tell me that a close friend of mine was in the hospital. She will be ok, but she wanted to let me know." Ziva told her boss. "Gibbs?" she asked. Gibbs snapped his head around to face her. He was snooping around Tony and McGee's desks for some reason. "What?" he responded. Ziva hesitated, then asked her question. "Do you... miss them?" she wondered. Gibbs stopped sorting though Tony's stuff and leaned up against the shelf behind her partner's desk. "I dunno. Guess so. It's a lot quieter without them, that's for sure." Gibbs said, going back to rifling through Tony's stuff. Ziva nodded and watched as Gibbs continued his unusual behavior. "Are you looking for something?" Ziva asked, wanting to be helpful. "Yeah. Where does DiNozzo keep his box of my medals?" Gibbs asked asa if she knew, which he doubted she did.

Ziva's eyebrows flew up and her mouth opened slightly. "He keeps all of your medals? Why don't you?" Ziva said, astonished. Gibbs shrugged as he opened the bottom drawer. "They don't mean anything to me. Don't really... believe in awards and medals when I'm just doing my job. DiNozzo's been trying to hide it from me for years, but I know he keeps them somewhere around here." Gibbs said, pulling out a metal box. He shook the grey container and said, "This must be it." Ziva watched as he picked the lock, brought the box back to his desk, and emptied its contents.

Ziva's jaw dropped even more (if that was possible) when she saw all of the awards Gibbs had received. "Where did you get all of these?" She asked. "Marines, mostly. Some at NCIS." he said, as if they didn't matter to him. Which they obviously didn't, if he gave them to Tony to throw away. "Why are you getting them out now?" Ziva asked her boss. Gibbs shrugged again. "Doin' something for SecNav tonight. Need my uniform." he explained simply as he pulled out his uniform and began pinning them on in the correct order. "Oh." Ziva responded.

"You're coming too, Ziver." he said after a second of silence. Ziva's head snapped up. "What?" she asked, confused. "DiNozzo and McGee are getting their last wishes tonight. SecNav is awarding them medals for their sacrifice to their country." Gibbs informed her. Ziva looked at him quizzically. "Gibbs, they are dead. They do not care if they get medals." Ziva said. Gibbs gave her a cold stare. "I care." he said as he walked off to change into his uniform to go and meet up with Admiral McGee, Director Vance, and the Secretary himself.

Ziva sighed and picked up the phone. If it was eight now, then she might be able to catch Tony before he ate dinner... Making her mind up, Ziva found her cell phone under a pile of case reports and called the number she now knew by heart.

"Hello my beautiful co-worker." Tony said as he picked up his phone. Ziva smiled and a small giggle escaped from her lips. Tony started yelling to someone where ever he was. "Hey, can you hold on a second?" he asked. "Sure. Who is that?" Ziva questioned him. "Tell you in a second. First, I have to beat McGee senseless." Tony said, causing Ziva to laugh again. "Who's that?" Dorneget asked as he walked into the squadroom. Ziva looked up at him, puzzled on how to respond. She hesitated for a second.

"My- It's my boyfriend." she told him, almost with a sense of pride. Ned smiled. "I didn't know you were dating someone." he stated, making it sound like he wanted more information. "Yeah... he just told me that he was ready for a relationship." Ziva blushed. Tony, who over heard the statement, stopped play fighting with McGee and grabbed his phone. "Wait, I did?" he asked. Ziva ignored him as the sounds of one of the two men yelling 'Stop!' and 'in the background started to become louder. Ned nodded. "Well, good luck. See you at the ceremony tonight." he said, walking off. "See you then." Ziva smiled as he left her all alone in the bull pen again.

"I am back." she stated, as a breathless Tony picked up his cell. "So am I. Did you know McGee is crazy good at defending himself?" Tony asked, wheezing a bit. "Yes. I am teaching him at the gym after work three times a week. Well, I _was_, at least. Lately he has not been showing up for his sessions." Ziva joked. "Haha. Solve this and we can get back to that." Tim spoke before Tony shoved him away from the phone. He got up and walked out onto the balcony of their tiny apartment and leaned up against the rail. "Ok. We are finally alone." Tony breathed a sigh of relief. "Good." Ziva smiled. Many high ranking officials were starting to gather outside the director's office on the catwalk and near the window. "Jack, they're getting their medals tonight." she said. Tony straightened up. "What? Who? Who died?" he asked, not realizing who she was talking about.

"Tony and McGee. They are getting their Medals of Freedom tonight. I wish you were here." Ziva told him. Tony grinned. "Well, It would be pretty funny to burst in through the window with McGee and proclaim that we aren't dead, but I can't catch a flight that fast." Tony said, cheering Ziva up quite a bit. There was a pause where nobody knew what to say.

"I miss you, Jack. You and Max both. Abby hasn't come out of her lab in a week. She sleeps there a lot now. They moved the second Caf-Pow machine from the lobby to outside her lab so she doesn't have to walk far to get it. Even though we know you're still here, everybody is pretty shaken up. I want you to come home." Ziva said, a little tear forming in the corner of her eye.

"I want to be home, Ziva. I can only live with crazy Timmy McGee for so long. You know I've started to talk like him? And he's becoming more sarcastic by the day. Los Angeles is so hot too, you wouldn't believe it. I wanna come home. I miss you, Ziva." Tony said as he gazed out over the LA skyline as the sun began its descent and the moon plotted to take over the night. The screen door opened and Tim stepped out with a smile on his face. "What?" Tony asked. "What? Wait, what what?" Ziva asked Tony. "No, hold on Zi. McGee. What?" Tony stated, clearing up the confusion.

"Eric and I got a hit. We've narrowed down the list." McGee said, excited. "What list? To- er, Jack, put me on speaker." Ziva said. It was better to receive information as it came, so why should they share it now? "Ok, Ziva's on speaker. Tim, explain." Tony said. Tim nodded and took a deep breath. The two of them could tell this was going to be a lengthy speech, but for some reason, Ziva didn't want to tell him to skip the technical mombo jumbo. Or was it mumbo?

Either way, Ziva wanted to hear his voice, both of their voices, as much as she could. They really made a difference around the building. With Tony and Tim gone, no one had really been themselves, even after all this time. It was always so gloomy now, like nobody was really truly getting over it. She couldn't imagine what it was like for them, living together in a city they'd both only been to once. Ziva was pulled from her thoughts as Tim began to speak.

"Ok. Eric and Nell compiled a list of the twenty most important cities to the government in the country, as well as the twenty most populated and well known cities. I created a program that went through the past three years of communication between Liberdad Nueva and Conquistador members that sorted out all the American cities mentioned. It's finished and Nell is going organizing the data now. We just might have our city."

**So... yeah. Things are speeding up a bit. How'd you like the Tiva? What did you think of the newest installment? Let me know your thoughts because not only do i love reviews, but I also love to see what you guys think! Thanks for reading and reviewing! Until the next chapter (which will be sooner than four months from now), Owl.**


End file.
